With U.S. brands expected to invest over $28 billion in connected TV (CTV) in 2024, balancing linear TV and CTV is now a top priority. Advertisers need to integrate these platforms as the TV landscape evolves to reach audiences with various viewing habits. A successful strategy requires both linear and CTV approaches to effectively reach audiences at scale.
We interviewed experts from Comcast Advertising, Disney, Fox, Samsung Ads, Snowflake, and others to gain insights on the evolving landscape of linear and CTV. In our video, they discuss audience fragmentation, data-driven targeting, measurement challenges, and more. Watch now to hear their perspectives.
Five considerations for connecting with linear TV and CTV audiences
1. Adapt to audience fragmentation
With consumers’ rapid shift toward streaming, it’s easy to overlook the enduring significance of linear TV, which still commands a large portion of viewership. According to Jamie Power of the Walt Disney Company, roughly half of the current ad supply remains linear, highlighting the need for brands to adapt their strategies to target traditional TV viewers and cord-cutters. As streaming continues to rise, ensuring your strategy integrates both CTV and linear TV is crucial for reaching the full spectrum of audiences.
“I don’t think that we thought the world would shift so quickly to streaming, but it’s not always just all about streaming; there’s still such a massive audience in linear.”
jamie power, disney
2. Combine linear TV’s reach with CTV’s precision
Blending the reach of linear TV with the granular targeting capabilities of CTV allows advertisers to engage both broad and niche audiences. Data is critical in understanding audience behavior across these platforms, enabling brands to create highly relevant campaigns tailored to specific audience segments. This strategic use of data enhances engagement and ensures that the right viewers see advertising campaigns.
“The future of TV is really around managing the fragmentation of audiences and making sure that you can reach those audiences addressably wherever they’re watching TV.”
carmela fournier, comcast Advertising
3. Manage frequency across platforms
Cross-platform campaigns require managing ad frequency to avoid oversaturation while ensuring adequate exposure. With a variety of offline and digital IDs resolved to consumers, our Digital and Offline Graphs can help maintain consistent messaging across linear TV and CTV. This approach allows advertisers to strike the right balance, preventing ad fatigue and delivering the right audience reach for campaign impact.
“You’ve got to make sure that you’re not reaching the same homes too many times, that you’re reaching everybody the right amount of times.”
justin rosen, ampersand
4. Focus on consistent measurement
Linear TV and CTV offer different data granularities, necessitating tailored approaches for accurate cross-platform campaign measurement. Bridging these data gaps requires advanced tools that streamline reporting for both mediums. As the industry moves toward consistent measurement standards, advertisers must adopt solutions that provide a comprehensive view of campaign performance, enabling them to optimize their cross-platform efforts.
“Where I think there are pitfalls are with the measurement piece, it’s highly fragmented, there’s more work to be done, we’re not necessarily unified in terms of a consistent approach to measurement.”
april weeks, basis
5. Align with shifts in audience behavior
The success of cross-platform campaigns hinges on staying agile and responsive to shifting audience preferences. As CTV adoption grows, advertisers must proactively adjust their strategies to align with how viewers engage across linear and streaming platforms.
Ideas include:
- Regularly updating creative
- Adjusting the media mix
- Utilizing real-time data insights to ensure campaigns remain relevant
“At Fox we were a traditional linear company, and essentially what we’re trying to do is merge the reach and the scale of TV as well as the reach and the scale of all the cord-cutters and cord-nevers that Tubi possesses.” Darren Sherriff – Fox
darren sherriff, fox
As streaming TV rapidly changes, brands must stay ahead of trends and shifts in consumer behavior to tap into CTV’s growing potential. By focusing on these opportunities, advertisers can blend linear TV and CTV, ensuring their campaigns reach audiences wherever they watch.
Connect with Experian’s TV experts
As a trusted leader in data and identity services, Experian offers the expertise to help you succeed in television marketing. With our strong partnerships with key players in the TV industry, we provide access to unique marketing opportunities.
Learn how Experian’s data and identity solutions can deliver outstanding results in advanced TV advertising. Partner with us today to enhance your marketing strategies using our Consumer View and Consumer Sync solutions.
Latest posts
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Mauris rhoncus augue sit amet mi rutrum, et egestas neque hendrerit. Aenean quis lectus dui. Quisque vitae posuere lectus. Nulla varius tincidunt mauris ut pharetra. Pellentesque semper mauris risus, et varius ante pretium ut. Duis varius ante a augue sodales, in consequat augue vehicula. Suspendisse potenti. Donec massa leo, efficitur vel eros ac, facilisis luctus massa. Ut pharetra eros diam, in fringilla neque elementum et. Morbi velit mauris, blandit et congue eu, convallis non augue. Curabitur porta sodales tellus vel porta. Morbi vel felis non neque efficitur venenatis. Nullam lobortis blandit ex id mollis. Donec euismod iaculis rutrum. Heading Description Heading Description Heading Description Vestibulum sed quam elit. Quisque bibendum nulla quam, non gravida tellus venenatis id. Ut a tellus facilisis, elementum ipsum ut, sodales orci. Nullam justo leo, condimentum in volutpat eu, gravida vel est. Ut placerat nulla erat, vel finibus lorem gravida at. Vivamus quis est id diam rhoncus blandit. Cras dignissim auctor diam, lobortis consectetur felis. Nulla accumsan lorem et augue pulvinar fermentum. Quisque ac nisl suscipit, imperdiet mauris eget, dignissim augue. Quisque tempus condimentum rhoncus. Vivamus in blandit nisi. Suspendisse sed metus rhoncus, vehicula nulla laoreet, volutpat neque. Morbi viverra in lacus id gravida. Aliquam velit ex, blandit at metus a, efficitur rutrum tortor. Fusce facilisis, nulla eget dapibus sagittis, sapien justo rhoncus nisi, ut placerat velit orci at velit. Sed finibus turpis ligula, et fermentum ligula rhoncus sit amet. Our 2026 Digital trends and predicitions report is available nowand ereveals five trends that will define 2026. From curation becoming the standard in programmatic to AI moving from hype to implementation, each trend reflects a shift towards more connected, data-driven marketing. The interplay between them will define how marketers will lead in 2026. Download now
Why an identity framework matters more than any single identifier The challenge facing marketers today isn’t a single identifier on a deprecation timeline. It’s the increasing fragmentation of signals and identifiers across browsers, devices, apps, and platforms. This shift introduces complexity into how audiences are reached and measured, as signals behave differently in every environment, and it becomes more complex to piece together a complete view of the consumer. Each environment contributes to its own set of visibility gaps, making identity less predictable and more uneven. The result is a patchwork of inconsistent identity signals rather than a single, predictable decline. While you can’t control how platforms evolve, you can control how you respond to fragmentation. The future won’t be defined by the loss of any single identifier, but by your ability to unify, interpret, and activate the many signals that remain. Marketers who adopt a flexible, identity framework will be best positioned to create consistency in an otherwise fragmented landscape. At Experian, we believe flexibility starts with intelligence. For decades, we’ve used AI and machine learning to help marketers understand people’s behavior more clearly, respect their privacy, and deliver messages that drive business outcomes. Our technology brings identity, insight, and intelligence together, so even as the number of signals grows and becomes more varied across environments, marketers can reach the right people with relevance, respect, and simplicity. This intelligence acts as the connective tissue across fragmented ecosystems, ensuring marketers can recognize and reach audiences consistently wherever they appear. What forces are driving fragmentation in identity and signals? Changes to traditional IDs: Since Apple introduced ATT, access to IDFA has become inconsistent across apps and devices. Google’s evolving Android privacy roadmap adds another layer of variability, fragmenting mobile addressability. Safari and Firefox have long restricted third-party cookies, while Chrome continues to support them for now. This creates different signal availability across browsers, contributing to an uneven and increasingly fragmented identity landscape on the open web. Shifts in signals: IPv4 to IPv6 migration introduces mismatched identity structures that complicate continuity across environments. Platform-driven fragmentation: Closed ecosystems and uneven adoption of evolving RTB standards (like OpenRTB 2.6 updates designed to support new identifiers and consent signals) create differences in which identifiers and consent signals are shared in the bidstream. At the same time, the rise of alternative or “universal” IDs—often developed by individual platforms, publishers, or technology companies—means that multiple ID types can appear within the same auction, each with its own structure, rules, and level of support. These differences reduce interoperability across platforms and contribute to a more fragmented activation landscape. Each change creates an identity silo. Together, they form an ecosystem defined by fragmentation rather than absence. Without an identity framework, these environments operate as disconnected identity islands. A multi-ID world requires a unified identity framework Alternative IDs play an important role, but they also expand the number of signals marketers must reconcile. Without a consistent identity layer, more IDs often mean more complexity—not more clarity. Common alternative IDs in use today: UID2: The Trade Desk’s UID 2.0, an iteration of their original Unified ID 1.0, which was still reliant on third-party cookies, creates persistent IDs with user-provided email addresses and phone numbers. ID5: This independent identity provider builds an identity infrastructure that powers addressable advertising across channels. It can create an ID based on both deterministic and probabilistic data. Hadron ID: Hadron ID is a unique, interoperable identity system (including first-party, audience-based, contextual, deterministic, and probabilistic) developed by Audigent, now part of Experian, to drive revenue for publishers by making their audience data and inventory actionable for media buyers. Industry reports suggest roughly one-third to two-fifths of open-auction traffic carries alternative IDs, sometimes multiple per request. Among Experian clients, adoption of alternative IDs rose 50% year over year, with a 30% increase in IDs resolved to individuals via our Digital Graph. Identity isn’t disappearing; it’s multiplying. A modern identity framework resolves these identifiers into a single, privacy-safe consumer view.
Year after year, CES signals where marketing is headed next. In 2026, the message was clear. Progress comes from connecting data, intelligence, and outcomes with discipline, not spectacle. Across AI, programmatic media, and measurement, the same priorities surfaced again and again. Under the bright lights of Las Vegas, three themes cut through, and each one pointed to a future where data, intelligence, and outcomes move in lockstep. Here are the three themes that defined CES 2026. 1. Agentic AI proved that it’s only as good as its data inputs AI was once again the star of the show. At CES 2026, marketers focused less on demos and more on proof that AI improves decisions, reduces friction, and drives outcomes. Every credible use case traced back to accurate, privacy-first data. What changed at CES was how that intelligence is being applied. Agentic AI systems designed to act autonomously are moving beyond insights and into execution. From media buying to optimization, these agents are increasingly expected to make decisions at speed and scale. That shift raises the stakes for data quality. When AI is operating campaigns, not just informing them, accuracy and privacy are non-negotiable. Without accurate, privacy compliant data, AI agents struggle to reflect real behavior or support responsible personalization. A reliable, privacy-first data foundation is what turns AI from an interesting experiment into an operational advantage. That advantage gets even stronger when it’s anchored in an identity graph that understands people and households across channels. When identity and intelligence move together, AI becomes more accurate, accountable, and effective at driving outcomes. In an AI first world, the strongest signal isn't scale. It's data quality. 2. Curation goes mainstream Curation is no longer experimental. At CES, it showed up as an mandated capability for buyers and sellers navigating fragmented signals and complex supply paths. Marketers want intentional media buys they can explain, defend, and repeat. AI is accelerating this shift. As AI systems take on more responsibility for planning, packaging, and optimization, curation provides the guardrails. It defines what “good” looks like (premium supply, trusted data, and clear performance goals), and allows AI to operate within those constraints driving the optimal outcomes for marketers. Rather than maximizing inventory access, curation prioritizes control, transparency, and performance. Buyers want premium supply aligned to specific goals. Sellers want clearer paths to demand. They can play the odds or own the outcome. When data leads, they own it. When curation is powered by high-fidelity audiences and a connected identity framework, it becomes even stronger. That’s what allows curated deals to deliver clarity, confidence, and repeatable performance. This shift reflects a broader move away from probability-based buying toward outcome ownership, where AI-driven systems are measured not on activity, but on results. 3. Activation and measurement finally shared the same stage Activation and measurement are now coming together around shared data and identity. CES 2026 marked a turning point where closing the loop felt achievable, not aspirational. Both the buy- and sell-sides face pressure to show that media investment drives outcomes. Agentic AI was a quiet driver of this optimism. As AI agents increasingly manage activation decisions in real time, marketers need measurement systems that can keep up. That requires a shared data and identity foundation. One that allows AI-driven actions to be evaluated against outcomes consistently, across channels and partners. "The companies leading in alternative data aren't just optimizing for growth, they're setting a new standard for inclusion, precision and responsible lending." – Ashley Knight, SVP of Product Management, Experian Achieving that requires a consistent identity spine that connects planning, activation, and outcomes across channels. And that spine is strongest when it’s built on accurate, privacy-first data and audiences that understand people and households. That connection allows marketers to move beyond proxy metrics and evaluate performance based on tangible results. When campaigns and measurement rely on the same data foundation, AI driven platforms can optimize toward outcomes such as new customers, account growth, or in-store activity, not just delivery metrics. That’s the connective layer that turns disconnected touchpoints into a measurable, outcomes-based system. The takeaway CES made one thing clear: agentic AI is moving marketing from intention to execution. But only for teams with the right foundation. AI is maturing, but only for teams with accurate, connected, privacy-first data that AI agents can act on responsibly. Curation is scaling, giving both humans and AI systems clearer paths to quality, control, and differentiation. Activation and measurement are aligning, allowing AI-driven decisions to be judged on outcomes, not assumptions. We’re building for that world today. One where agentic AI operates on a trusted data and identity foundation, curation defines the rules, and outcomes determine success. With the right foundation and the deep data inputs, you can move faster, reduce risk, and let intelligence (human and artificial) work together to deliver results that last long after the neon lights fade.