The future of CTV lies in standardization

As CTV enters its next phase of growth, however, standardization will become one of the most important priorities shaping its future. 

Unlike other digital or programmatic channels, native CTV inventory (including the home screen) has historically varied widely across device manufacturers, from creative specifications and ad formats to click actions and activation workflows. In practice, this means advertisers and agencies are forced to navigate a patchwork of technical requirements to achieve scaled reach. Consequently, adoption has been relatively slow, not because marketers question the value of this inventory, but because operational complexity often outweighs the benefits. 

Without standardized industry specifications, preparing one native CTV campaign for multiple OEM environments can easily require 10 to 30-plus hours of prelaunch adaptation. For a single native CTV campaign, advertisers and creative teams may need to adapt the same asset package across 10 to 15 or more unique placements before launch. When dimensions, UI requirements, copy limits, image recomposition, QA and more complex executions like animated or pause ads all vary by environment, that work can add up quickly.

Worse yet, inconsistency impacts creative quality. The more time teams spend reworking assets for each environment, the harder it becomes to maintain a unified brand experience across touchpoints. Campaigns perform best when creative is designed intentionally for a given environment while still delivering consistency across the broader media plan, and standardization helps create the technical foundation that makes this possible.

Fragmented infrastructure also creates barriers to broader programmatic activation. Many buyers and planners expect the same efficiencies from CTV native inventory that they already experience across other digital channels, like display (think: streamlined workflows and scale). When inventory requires excessive customization or manual execution, it becomes harder to integrate naturally into a broader media strategy. 

Standardization is not about reducing differentiation among OEMs. Rather, it’s about creating the connective tissue that allows advertisers to participate more efficiently across the ecosystem, and that efficiency benefits everyone involved. Advertisers gain simpler activation and more scalable reach. Creative teams can spend less time adapting assets and more time focusing on storytelling. Agencies can integrate native CTV inventory more seamlessly into omnichannel planning. And OEMs can make their inventory more accessible to a broader range of buyers. 

As the CTV market continues to mature, operational simplicity is becoming just as important as premium supply. And for smart TV home screens, standardization may prove to be the unlock that moves this inventory from a promising opportunity to an outcome-driving media channel.

Partner insights from Nexxen