The Trade Desk has officially announced its new streaming TV operating system (OS), dubbed Ventura, and is actively looking to partner smart TV manufacturers and other streaming TV aggregators to deploy it.
With industry support expressed from the likes of Disney, Paramount and Tubi, the digital advertising giant expects Ventura to be deployed on TVs as early as 2025,
John Halley, president of Paramount Advertising, said the company is “excited to see them bring their approach to the OS marketplace. Both broadcasters and consumers will undoubtedly benefit.”
The Trade Desk is pitching Ventura as a “major advance” in TV OS that offers an improved user experience and a more efficient advertising supply chain.
Benefits, The Trade Desk suggests, include “fewer (more relevant) ads”, cross-platform content discovery and personalisation features for users, as well as optimised return on investment for advertisers and yield for publishers.
In an attempt to minimise supply chain costs and enable accurate cross-platform ad impression valuation, the OS will integrate tools like The Trade Desk’s online identity solution Unified ID 2.0.
The Trade Desk reportedly building its own smart TV OS
It had been reported in August that The Trade Desk was quietly developing its own TV OS.
“We’re at a point in the evolution of streaming TV where we must ensure the supply chain of streaming TV advertising is competitive and transparent, so advertisers can maximise campaign performance, publishers can fund this new golden age of TV and consumers have a better streaming TV ad experience,” said Jeff Green, CEO and founder of The Trade Desk.
“This innovation has to come in the OS and it has to come from a company that brings the objectivity of not owning any streaming TV content. At The Trade Desk, all we want is a fair marketplace, where supply chain costs are minimised and advertiser trust can thrive.”
Smart TV makers could bring an end to the golden age of television
Success hinges on adoption and quality of UX
The Trade Desk will be met with stiff competition in the TV OS space from tech giants like Google and Amazon, as well as smart TV manufacturers themselves including Roku, Samsung, LG, Hisense and Tivo.
Nigel Walley, managing director of media strategy consultancy Decipher, previously told The Media Leader that he was “really surprised” about the development, given The Trade Desk has “no experience in TV interface/OS design”.
“Over the last few years, we have been expecting the market for smart TV OS to simplify down to a small number of players. But, if anything, it’s done the opposite,” he said
Tony Marlow, chief marketing officer at competitor LG Ad Solutions, said: “The Trade Desk’s foray into the TV OS market highlights the growing importance of operating systems in shaping viewer experiences and seamlessly integrating advertising. This move positions them to influence content consumption and ad delivery directly.
“However, the success of this bold step hinges on several factors: can they achieve widespread distribution and adoption of their TVs and is their OS ready to deliver a truly compelling and user-friendly experiences?”
