Janette Higginson, VP, Buyer Development APAC, Index Exchange
Streaming TV is no longer an emerging channel. It’s a core part of how audiences consume content, whether that is premium drama, short-form video or live sport on mobile devices.
Yet while the ways people consume content have evolved quickly, the infrastructure underpinning advertising in these environments has not always kept pace.
Much of programmatic as we know it today was designed for an entirely different era of digital advertising. This is why activating streaming campaigns at scale can still feel more complex than it should be, with fragmented signals, inconsistent deal structures and limited transparency all introducing friction.
For media owners and buyers alike, this creates inefficiencies because, at a time when streaming investment is rapidly accelerating – expected to rise to $215.61 billion globally by 2031, so are expectations for accountability.
Standards are critical
At its core, programmatic advertising depends on a shared approach.
Protocols are being developed to define how buyers, sellers and intermediaries communicate, but without a common framework, scale simply isn’t possible. The good news is we’re starting to see progress in how universal standards and processes are evolving, to better reflect the realities of streaming.
OpenRTB 2.6 is a great example of this.
It introduces important updates that allow streaming inventory to be described with far greater accuracy than before, particularly through the introduction of pod bidding (which allows advertisers to bid on specific ad slots within a multi-ad break, or pod).
This brings programmatic closer to the traditional TV ad break experience, where considerations such as ensuring competing brands don’t run ads next to each other and frequency capping within a single break are essential.
For buyers, it means clearer signals and better decision-making. For media owners, it creates new opportunities to package and monetise inventory in ways that align with how content is actually consumed.
However, these developments aren’t happening in isolation. Industry collaboration through organisations like the IAB Tech Lab is helping to ensure that standards are not only developed but also consistently adopted and updated.
Initiatives designed to provide a standardised way to assess audience scale during live events demonstrate that the industry is finally addressing long-standing operational challenges.
What this means for streaming
Live streaming is gaining momentum across APAC, with the market estimated to grow by AUD 39.76 billion from 2025 to 2030. And though much of the global conversation has focused on connected TV, there are huge markets that are heavily mobile-first.
Audiences are just as likely to stream live sport or entertainment on the go, with a mobile in hand, as they are to sit down in front of a large screen with a group of friends or family.
Major sporting events like the Indian Premier League, which reached over a billion viewers this year, the upcoming FIFA World Cup or F1 races that, despite being held in different time zones across the world, continue to have a strong following across APAC and bring significant spikes in viewership.
Capitalising on these moments effectively requires infrastructure that scales in real time and is supported by consistent, interoperable signals.
But standards alone are not enough. The way those signals are applied is just as important.
Moving intelligence upstream
This is where sell-side decisioning is reshaping how streaming advertising operates. By making the supply side more intelligent, it becomes possible to better match demand with inventory, optimise how requests are routed and ensure that the most relevant opportunities are surfaced to the right buyers. In a region defined by fragmentation and scale, this drives efficiency while enabling more meaningful connections between advertisers and audiences.
We’re also seeing this play out in the growth of curated marketplaces. By combining inventory with data in structured environments, buyers get greater clarity and, importantly, control. This helps address a core challenge in streaming: the gap between content richness and the quality of the signals used to monetise it. Supporting programmatic demand means ensuring that inventory is accessible and signals are complete.
And while standards may serve as a foundation for this, consistent implementation, alongside robust measurement, is what actually determines success.
The future of advertising in streaming
As streaming continues to shift and grow, so does the balance between buyers and sellers. This is exactly what’s needed to bring about a more balanced marketplace, where value is more closely aligned with the quality of the content and the audience it attracts. The diversity across APAC, from highly developed markets to rapidly growing economies, means there is no single model for success. What is consistent is the need for infrastructure that can adapt to different consumption patterns while maintaining a high standard of interoperability.
Streaming has already transformed how audiences engage with content. The next phase of its evolution will be defined by how effectively the industry can standardise how advertising within those environments is transacted.
For media owners, buyers and platforms alike, the opportunity lies in embracing standards, not as a compliance exercise, but as a way to unlock scale, efficiency and long-term growth.