Streaming TV in the age of AI: How brands can reach audiences at the right moment

The streaming TV landscape has evolved from a fragmented, complex marketplace into a sophisticated advertising channel powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and authenticated signals. For brands navigating this transformation, the challenge isn't just reaching audiences—it's reaching them with relevance, at scale, and without overwhelming viewers with repetitive messaging. As content expands across platforms and viewer habits evolve, artificial intelligence and authenticated signals are making it easier for advertisers to connect with the right audiences at the right moment, creating value for publishers, brands, and viewers alike.

The key to unlocking this opportunity lies in creating marketplace liquidity through better signals, more accessible inventory, and AI-powered optimization. When these fundamentals work together, publishers can maximize yield across their content, advertisers can deliver relevant messages efficiently, and viewers receive diverse, engaging advertising experiences that enhance rather than interrupt their entertainment.

The rising tide that lifts all boats

Creating an efficient streaming TV landscape requires activating more advertisers, exposing more inventory, and exchanging authenticated signals that enable better audience selection and measurement. For established players, it's a way to sharpen what's already working. For new entrants, it opens the door to a new medium without the steep price of entry.

"If we focus on the fundamentals of digital advertising, and we all lean in a little bit together, we can create a rising tide which will lift each of our individual boats," explains Pieter de Zwart, Director of Engineering for Amazon DSP. "We need to create more liquidity in the streaming TV advertising marketplace."

Carl Goedjen, President of Global Overview—an Amazon Ads advanced partner and 2025 Partner Award finalist—has witnessed this transformation firsthand. He points to the evolution of authenticated signals as a watershed moment that changed the game for performance media.

"I can now create an audience, and I can now reach that audience all the way through that first signal of them watching Thursday Night Football, all the way through down to purchase," Goedjen notes.

Advertisers can now leverage the Amazon Ads authenticated graph to connect verified audiences across shopping, streaming, and entertainment properties, reducing media waste and improving campaign performance through consistent audience recognition.

When AI meets ambition

Artificial intelligence is making sophisticated streaming TV advertising accessible to more advertisers. By analyzing billions of signals from customer activities, solutions like Ad Relevance can determine where someone is in their shopping journey and deliver highly targeted advertising without relying on ad IDs. This enables brands to maintain meaningful connections across all platforms and optimize ad performance in real time.

"What has shocked me the most over the last 12 months: consumers are buying immediately, without going through the rest of the funnel," Goedjen observes. "That speaks to, as we think about monetizing media more, increasing scale, we have to remove those barriers."

Advertisers can use Performance+ to optimize campaigns toward conversion goals, or Brand+ to predict future conversions and reach potential high-value customers while maintaining brand safety controls.

From complexity to clarity

For live content like sports, concerts, and award shows, Live Events Optimizer transforms what was once a complex, fragmented process into a streamlined experience. Advertisers can access certified premium inventory through a dedicated line item with advanced pacing, forecasting, and reporting designed for peak engagement moments.

Interactive capabilities are also transforming viewer engagement. Through interactive video ads, audiences can add products to their cart or learn more using their remote or by scanning a QR code, all without leaving their viewing experience. This deepens engagement while providing advertisers with access to lower-funnel measurement that connects streaming exposure to action.

The relevance revolution

When the marketplace operates efficiently and AI optimizes for relevance, everyone benefits. Publishers can monetize both premium and catalog content more effectively. Advertisers can deliver messages at the right moment to the right audiences. And viewers receive more relevant, diverse advertising that enhances their experience.

De Zwart illustrates the importance of relevance with a personal example: "I was watching baseball last year, and in the span of about two hours, I saw 14 ads from a truck company. It did not build brand affinity."

AI and authenticated signals address these inefficiencies. With the right capabilities and speed to act, brands can move from relative obscurity to major awareness through strategic streaming TV advertising.

"I've never seen the industry move as fast as I have in the last 12 to 24 months," Goedjen reflects. "And that performance and optimization and speed, that goes back to the partnership with partners. If we don't move faster, you're not going to be able to capitalize on it."

What's possible now

The foundation is now in place for streaming TV to fulfill its promise as an efficient, measurable channel. AI-powered optimization and authenticated signals are making it easier for brands to reach audiences with relevant messages, for publishers to maximize content value, and for viewers to discover aligned products and services.

For brands willing to embrace these capabilities, the opportunity has never been more accessible. The technology exists to deliver the right message at the right moment, and the results demonstrate that streaming TV can drive both awareness and immediate action, collapsing the traditional funnel.