Ad Week 2025: Xumo’s Top Three Takeaways
At Advertising Week 2025, Xumo joined key industry players to explore how innovation, creative ad formats, and strategic partnerships are shaping the next chapter of streaming TV. The discussions revealed a future where streaming and traditional television converge through smarter technology and a shared focus on the viewer.
By Jen Berg, Senior Director, Marketing
The streaming industry is entering a new era, defined by interactivity, intelligent partnerships, and seamless viewer experiences. At Advertising Week 2025, Xumo took the stage to show how it's leading that charge, offering a glimpse into the future of streaming TV through four powerful panel discussions.
Here are the top three takeaways from those discussions.
The Engine Behind FAST Growth: Communication and Collaboration
In the rapidly evolving world of FAST and streaming TV, communication and collaboration aren’t just best practices, they’re essential strategies for growth.
In Streaming in the FAST Lane: How to Build Better Partnerships, Xumo’s Alicia Pignataro, Director, Advertising Sales, and Horizon Media’s Stephanie Kelly, VP of Advanced Video and Agency Partnership, emphasized that successful partnerships are built on more than pricing and performance. They require consistent communication, transparency, and a shared commitment to education. From aligning on product updates to exploring opportunities in measurement, PR, and awards, both sides stressed that momentum builds when all facets of agency teams – from planning and analytics to investment – understand a platform’s full value. As Kelly put it, “there’s no stopping momentum” once understanding clicks.
Xumo’s unique position as both a FAST service and operating system gives it a distinct edge, offering advertisers a powerful combination of data access and discoverability. With nearly one-third of U.S. households using FAST services and 60% of viewing time going to classic content, the opportunity is massive. But it’s collaboration that unlocks it.
That same spirit was echoed in The Power of Partnership Across Platforms, where Xumo’s Jerrold Son, VP, Ad Operations and Integration, and Google TV’s Sandra Gueorguieva, Head of AVOD and FAST Strategic Partnerships, showcased how clarity and cooperation fuel innovation. The Google Freeplay FAST service, launched in partnership with Xumo Enterprise, now hosts over 200 channels, delivering seamless, ad-supported linear viewing without app downloads or sign-ins. Overcoming technical hurdles together, the partnership has become a model for how platforms can align around user experience while driving monetization.
In a fragmented streaming TV landscape, Xumo and its partners are proving that communication and collaboration aren’t just enablers, they’re accelerators of meaningful progress.
Sports Streaming: Meeting Fans Where They Are
In the discussion “Game Time: A Buyer’s Perspective on Sports and Streaming,” Xumo’s Jen Pittenger, Sr. Director, Ad Sales, and Joey Sciamarelli, VP of Sports at Publicis Sports, explored how brands like Coca-Cola are adapting to a rapidly evolving sports landscape — one where engagement matters more than location. Fans now consume highlights, creator content, and live games across multiple platforms, and brands are shifting from pure reach to incremental, unduplicated reach that connects with audiences wherever they watch.
Advertisers are also leaning into interactive, shoppable ad formats that enhance the viewing experience. Xumo campaigns featuring L-bar overlays and QR codes, for instance, have enabled viewers to instantly order a soda or sports drink while watching a college football game, turning passive viewing into active participation. Influencer and athlete tie-ins add authenticity and energy, keeping creative relevant to fans.
FAST channels extend this engagement between live events, with Xumo’s 30+ sports channels offering highlights and classic content 24/7 - and it worth mentioning FAST apps like Xumo Play are increasingly adding live sporting events to their expanding lineups.
Still, fragmentation remains a key challenge, making holistic, cross-platform strategies essential. As Sciamarelli put it, “You’ve got to meet fans where they already are.” In today’s landscape, that’s increasingly everywhere.
Ad Interactivity Must Feel Natural and Rewarding
In Beyond the Ad Break: The Role of Creative Formats in Streaming, I had the pleasure of speaking with Patrick Rubin, VP of Enterprise Sales at Innovid, to explore how creativity and interactivity are reshaping streaming TV.
Interactive and shoppable ads like QR codes, voice-enabled prompts, and overlays are driving engagement when executed with intention. Rubin shared that one auto brand’s simple 10%-off QR code saw a 16% scan rate because the value was clear, the design was purposeful, and the offer felt natural.
Rubin highlighted Innovid’s partnership with a major streaming platform during a tentpole live sporting event, which allowed viewers to instantly add promoted shows to their watchlist. The campaign resulted in 32,000 shows being added to customers’ watchlists without the need to take their eyes off the big game. Looking ahead, AI-driven personalization promises to make these interactions even more seamless, connecting social and streaming experiences. The future of streaming TV lies in creative that feels less like an interruption and more like part of the story.
The Future of Streaming TV: Collaboration and Putting the Viewer First
From shoppable sports ads to cross-platform collaboration, Xumo is proving that innovation and accessibility can coexist, and when executed thoughtfully, streaming doesn’t just complement traditional TV, it completes it.