How Publishers Can Reclaim the True Value of Streaming Inventory

Fast-forward to today, and the dynamics of the streaming marketplace have changed dramatically. In the past year, streaming viewership has officially overtaken traditional TV, FAST channels have multiplied, and nearly every major SVOD platform has introduced ad-supported tiers. That explosion in supply has created what many are calling a buyer’s market.

According to several marketplace analyses suggested by eMarketer, CPMs for streaming TV have fallen since last year, roughly 15-20% across multiple programmers.¹ Inventory growth has simply outpaced demand. On paper, it’s great news for advertisers: more impressions, more reach, lower prices. But for publishers, this “more” has resulted in less - less yield, less differentiation, and more pressure to prove the value of premium content.

And yet, viewer engagement and consumption on streaming continue to rise.² It’s a curious contradiction: even as audiences devote more time to streaming, its economic value isn’t quite mirroring that growth.

Therefore, the question for publishers isn’t “how do we sell more impressions?”, it’s “how do we achieve the proper value for the impressions we sell?”

From Oversupply to Opportunity

Streaming’s rapid scaling has created an identity crisis in the marketplace. The promise of digital - precision, control, and efficiency - has collided with the realities of TV: storytelling, engagement, and emotion. The result is a fragmented, fluid ecosystem where pricing pressure is intense, and quality signals are inconsistent.

Publishers who want to thrive in this new environment need to pivot their focus fromvolume to value. And that starts by leaning into what buyers say they care about most: quality, data, and flexibility.

1. Reinforce the Value of Quality and Context

Advertisers have more reach than ever, but they’re increasingly questioning where that reach comes from. Brand safety, content adjacency, and audience engagement all play a larger role in determining perceived value.

Premium publishers have a unique advantage here - they can deliver storytelling environments that naturally drive higher attention and recall. But they need to prove it.

That means being transparent around delivery and where ads are running. When buyers see performance differences in black and white, they have more reason to pay a premium towards those favorable partners - and will continue to invest over time.

At the same time, publishers must guard against the commoditization of streaming impressions. When lower-quality content floods the programmatic market, it drags CPMs down for everyone. Publishers that clearly communicate why their content and audience experiences are different can protect, and even grow, their yield.

2. Enrich Every Impression with Better Data

One of the fastest paths to higher CPMs is simply making each bid more informative.

Programmatic buyers reward clarity and confidence. When bid requests carry richer signals - data about the content, audience, device, or viewer engagement - they enable smarter bidding decisions and create healthier competition (and volume) in auctions.

For example, one major publisher using FreeWheel’s signal enrichment tools saw a 57% increase in bid response rate, which typically correlates with increased revenue for those ad opportunities.³ That’s a powerful reminder that incremental improvements in data transparency can translate directly into revenue.

Equally important is the strategic use of first-party data. As cookie-based targeting continues to erode, authenticated audience data has become the currency of trust. Publishers who can offer verified, privacy-safe audience segments provide advertisers with confidence and campaign performance that justify premium pricing.

3. Lean into the value of live events

The definition of “TV” has expanded - and, with that, advertiser expectations. Today’s buyers want the ability to transact across formats, objectives, and timeframes that align with shifting campaign goals.

One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the power of live events, especially live sports. In fact, 82% of buyers cite access to high value inventory like sports as an important factor when planning video campaigns.⁴

Live programming represents the most premium inventory in the marketplace, yet many publishers hesitate to make it available programmatically, fearing that they won’t be able to capture its full value.

However, if publishers begin signaling that inventory is tied to live events – whether sports, news, or cultural moments - they can help buyers recognize its premium nature and justify higher CPMs since advertisers are willing to pay more to reach their audiences in engaging, premium environments. Making more of this high-value inventory accessible programmatically not only increases competition but also elevates pricing across the board, ultimately helping publishers reclaim the true worth of their streaming assets.

Unlocking the strategic value of streaming TV

The state of streaming today mirrors where digital display advertising was a decade ago: growing fast, innovating faster, and in danger of undervaluing itself. The challenge is to make sure the market rewards quality, not just quantity.

Publishers who lean into transparency, invest in enriched data, and evolve their programmatic strategies can not only stabilize CPMs, but they can also help reshape how streaming inventory is valued altogether.

The task in front of us is to remind the market of that value.

Sources:
1. eMarketer, US Ad Prices Have Stabilized for Free Streaming Services and YouTube (average US ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) CPMs, by platform, Q1 2024-Q2 2025).
2. Nielsen, The Gauge, September 2025.
3. FreeWheel Internal Analysis, April-June 2025.
4. Ad Perceptions Study Commissioned by FreeWheel, August 2025.

Posted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership self-publishing platform.

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The opinions expressed here are the author's views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.org/MyersBizNet.