# Addressable Advertising > Technology profile in The State of Streaming directory. - Profile type: Technology - Profile status: baseline - Last updated: 2026-05-03T00:00:00.000Z - Canonical URL: https://thestateofstreaming.com/tech/addressable-advertising/ ## Summary Addressable advertising delivers different ads to different households or devices watching the same program — the targeting paradigm that underpins all of CTV and the growing addressable-linear footprint inside traditional pay-TV. ## Definition Addressable advertising is the practice of delivering different commercials to different households or devices watching the same content, rather than broadcasting one ad to a mass audience. It spans two main surfaces: addressable linear TV, where set-top-box or smart-TV signaling swaps in targeted spots inside live linear feeds, and connected TV, where IP-delivered streaming inventory is addressable by default. A typical solution chains three layers — an identity or audience graph that defines who to reach, a buying platform (DSP or programmatic-guaranteed pipe) that places the order, and a sell-side stack (SSP, ad server, or MVPD ad-decisioning system) that resolves the impression at the device. It emerged as the answer to broadcast TV's measurement and waste problem and is now the default expectation of any premium video buy. ## Market size 43% of large advertisers plan to increase addressable TV spending in 2026 vs. 2025, a 16-point jump from the prior year's intent survey. (as of 2025-11-06). Source: Go Addressable / Advertiser Perceptions — https://goaddressable.com/report/addressable-tv-continues-its-momentum-among-advertisers-for-the-fourth-year-in-a-row ## Key trends - Convergence of linear addressable and CTV into a single cross-screen buy as third-party cookies retire and walled-garden audience graphs mature. - Smart-TV OEMs (Samsung, Vizio, LG) shifting from inventory sellers to identity owners on the back of ACR data. - Holdco identity stacks (Omnicom-IPG, Publicis-Epsilon) being repositioned as the activation layer for addressable, not just programmatic display. - Programmatic-guaranteed and PMP deal types overtaking open-auction as the dominant addressable transaction shape on premium CTV. - Measurement currency fragmentation (Nielsen, VideoAmp, iSpot, Comscore) becoming the gating constraint on addressable linear scale, not inventory supply. ## Major players - comcast corporation — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/comcast-corporation/ - the trade desk — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/the-trade-desk/ - magnite — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/magnite/ - pubmatic — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/pubmatic/ - samsung electronics — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/samsung-electronics/ - vizio — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/vizio/ - lg ad solutions — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/lg-ad-solutions/ - doubleverify — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/doubleverify/ ## Key facts - 43% of large advertisers expect to spend more on addressable TV in 2026 than in 2025 — a 16-point increase in spending intent year-over-year. — Go Addressable (Nov. 6, 2025): https://goaddressable.com/report/addressable-tv-continues-its-momentum-among-advertisers-for-the-fourth-year-in-a-row - 86% of advertisers report being very or somewhat satisfied with current addressable TV options, up sharply from 2022 baselines. — Go Addressable: https://goaddressable.com/report/addressable-tv-continues-its-momentum-among-advertisers-for-the-fourth-year-in-a-row - eMarketer projects US connected TV ad spend will reach $37.95 billion in 2026 — virtually all of which is addressable inventory by default. — eMarketer: https://www.emarketer.com/content/three-forces-shaping-ctv-growth-2026 - 63% of advertisers who haven't yet bought addressable TV plan to start in 2026, a 22-point jump versus the 2022 cohort. — MarketingCharts citing Go Addressable: https://www.marketingcharts.com/advertising-trends/creative-and-formats-237315 - IAB classifies addressable TV as a subset of programmatic TV — technology that lets advertisers show different ads to different audience segments watching the same program on IPTV and set-top boxes. — IAB: https://www.iab.com/news/advanced-tv-targeting-guide/ ## Related - identity resolution (the audience-graph layer that makes addressable activation possible) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/tech/identity-resolution/ - ctv bidding (the auction layer for addressable CTV impressions) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/tech/ctv-bidding/ - acr automatic content recognition (the smart-TV data signal that powers most household-level addressable targeting) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/tech/acr-automatic-content-recognition/ - ssai server side ad insertion (the delivery mechanism that stitches addressable creative into streaming feeds) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/tech/ssai-server-side-ad-insertion/ - attention metrics (the post-impression measurement currency increasingly attached to addressable buys) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/tech/attention-metrics/ - programmatic guaranteed (the dominant deal type for premium addressable CTV transactions) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/tech/programmatic-guaranteed/ ## External coverage - IAB: A Guide to Advanced TV Targeting (https://www.iab.com/news/advanced-tv-targeting-guide/) - 2025-11-06 — Go Addressable: Addressable TV Continues Its Momentum Among Advertisers for the Fourth Year in a Row (https://goaddressable.com/report/addressable-tv-continues-its-momentum-among-advertisers-for-the-fourth-year-in-a-row) - eMarketer: The three forces that will shape CTV's 2026 growth (https://www.emarketer.com/content/three-forces-shaping-ctv-growth-2026) - AdExchanger: AdExplainer: Data-Driven Linear Vs. Addressable TV (https://www.adexchanger.com/adexplainer/adexplainer-data-driven-linear-vs-addressable-tv/) ## Profile Addressable advertising is the structural answer to a problem broadcast TV could never solve: every household watching the same show wanted to be sold something different, and the medium had no way to do it. The category exists in two distinct shapes that are now converging. Addressable linear TV — the older surface, anchored in the cable industry's set-top-box footprint — uses MVPD ad-decisioning systems to swap targeted spots into the two minutes per hour of inventory the operator controls inside live linear feeds. Comcast's FreeWheel and the On Addressability consortium represent the consolidated sell-side here; the addressable-linear pool is small relative to total linear inventory but commands a meaningful CPM premium. Addressable CTV is the bigger story: streaming inventory is IP-delivered and therefore addressable by default, which is why eMarketer's CTV forecast and the addressable-advertising forecast are increasingly the same conversation. The buy-side stack is familiar — The Trade Desk and the holdco DSPs route demand; SSPs like Magnite and PubMatic intermediate; smart-TV OEMs (Samsung, Vizio, LG) increasingly behave as both inventory sellers and identity owners by virtue of their ACR data. The activation layer is where the category is most actively rewiring itself in 2026: as third-party cookies retire and CTV walled gardens harden, the holdco identity stacks (Omnicom's pending IPG combination, Publicis's Epsilon-CoreID assets) are repositioning as the connective tissue between first-party advertiser data and addressable inventory. The constraint on growth is no longer supply or buyer appetite — Go Addressable's 2025 intent survey shows 43% of large advertisers planning to increase spend in 2026, with overall satisfaction at 86%. The gating constraint is measurement currency. Until Nielsen, VideoAmp, iSpot, and Comscore reach a stable detente on cross-screen addressable measurement, the category's premium pricing has a ceiling — and that ceiling is the next 24 months of trade-press argument. ## Tags - addressable - ctv - linear-tv - programmatic - identity - measurement - advertising - category --- View this profile in a browser: https://thestateofstreaming.com/tech/addressable-advertising/ Browse the directory: https://thestateofstreaming.com/tech/ Machine-readable index: https://thestateofstreaming.com/llms.txt