The penultimate day of IBC2023 kicked off in fine style in the Premium Pass Holders Premium Sessions, with an interactive and informal session that aimed to tackle some of the big questions around the Future of TV Advertising
Hosted by a trio of Google experts, the presenters consisted of Inderpreet Sandhu, CTV and Platform Systems Expert, Google, Liz Ferguson, Broadcast Partnerships Lead, Google and Justin Gupta, Head of Broadcast and Entertainment, UK & Ireland, Google.

The session began with an audience ‘temperature check’ conducted by Liz Ferguson, where Premium Pass Holders were asked to vote for whether they agreed or disagreed with some statements - firstly, that ‘the solutions that can help monetize TV and streaming experiences at scale are better than linear’, secondly ‘we have standards or will have in less than 18 months - that will help unify digital and linear advertising’ and thirdly ‘there is more inventory available to monetize in TV than there are relevant advertisers at the right price’. With a mix of responses throughout the room, Inderpreet Sandhu took to the intimate stage.
Sandhu began by setting out the broad ecosystem, before drilling down into some of the market drivers. “I think everyone can agree that the CTV ecosystem is relatively in its infancy, but it’s been really characterised by a few key themes. One, it’s just a [marketplace of] really stringent competition that’s coming through so many options, so many players in this space. There’s a lot of fragmentation that’s actually in this market, but also there’s a lot of opportunities as well. A lot of opportunities for everyone involved, whether you’re an operator, broadcaster, and obviously a viewer or a marketer trying to reach an engaged audience.”
He then leaned into the ‘leanback’ experience: “The ‘Leanback at home’ experience is something that everybody really values. Everyone likes to talk about how TV is now on the go and it’s available everywhere. Yeah, that’s true. But everyone who has the privilege of having a smart TV or some sort of access at home, really values that relaxed experience of having content at their disposal, watching the most comfortable setting, which is usually on the couch, or in your bed, wherever it may be.
“As much as viewership on mobile is still growing - and it is still growing - when you think of the overall pie of viewership, the leanback experience is something that’s really been eye opening for a lot of people and it’s going to continue to grow.”
He proceeded to dig into SVOD ad revenue figures, pointing out that many services launched without ads as a strategy to grow viewer numbers, but that over time the balance between SVOD and AVOD is likely to change.
“My personal prediction is that the dynamic is going to start changing over the course of the next five years, where you’re going to see a lot more AVOD services and that’s where the growth of the revenue numbers of is really coming from, not from subscription fees, but from the advertising revenue that you get from engaged viewership.”
The audience then moved on to brainstorming the challenges and potential solutions to the big questions affecting the future of TV advertising. The format set out four core pillars – ‘technology as an enabler or inhibitor to growth’, ‘ensuring a TV like user experience at scale’, ‘protecting/measuring advertising that is usable and acceptable’, and ‘other factors’, each with sub-categories of questions for the delegates to tackle.
With a broad range of participants, from telcos to broadcasters, analysts to vendors, the resulting debate may not have entirely laid out the future of TV Advertising, but it certainly made a start to a story that is certain to be continued…

Tell Media strengthens leadership team, opens Kuala Lumpur office
UK-based sports production company Tell Media has strengthened its senior leadership team and also opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur to service the Southeast Asia market.

NEP Group reorganises European operations
NEP Europe has unveiled a new organisational structure for its northern, mid and southern European businesses.

Kickstart Day 2025: Evolution of the Control Room wins Project of the Year
The IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme has announced the ‘Evolution of the Control Room’ as the winner of the prestigious 2024 Project of the Year Award.
ITV brings golf back to free-to-air TV in UK
Elite golf is returning to free-to-air television in the UK after Saudi Arabia-backed league LIV Golf struck a broadcast partnership with ITV for the 2025 season.

Fox names John Nallen as President and Chief Operating Officer
John Nallen has been named President and Chief Operating Officer of Fox Corporation with a new long-term employment agreement that runs till June 2028.