From Roku and Hulu to Peacock and Paramount Plus, it seems like there’s always a new streaming platform out there haranguing us to watch their content, but all of that content means a surplus of inventory and eyeballs for advertisers. OTT and CTV inventory, like the ads you might see while watching a show on Hulu, gives digital advertisers access to a premium video experience that’s close to traditional TV while maintaining the targeting and measurement strengths of digital.

While OTT/CTV inventory can be accessed programmatically, you could also access this inventory via a direct deal with a vendor. Unlike a programmatic campaign where you would likely be accessing multiple OTT/CTV vendors or publishers through a single buy, direct deals are usually through single publishers and have a minimum spend threshold. There are also companies that aggregate premium inventory from top publishers. These companies give you a more expansive inventory pool without some of the pitfalls of programmatic buying; direct buys with these inventory aggregators will also have minimum spend thresholds.