Disney launches AI studio to automate small business CTV ads

By embedding creative production into its buying platform, Disney is vertically integrating the ad lifecycle for the long-tail market. This move lowers the barrier to entry for small businesses, expanding the pool of buyers for Disney’s 122 million ad-supported viewers. It marks a shift from solving distribution and measurement to solving for the commercial asset itself. As rival platforms like Amazon and Walmart already offer similar automated stacks, Disney’s success will depend on whether it can balance high-volume AI variation with the strict brand safety standards required by its premium inventory. Monitor the beta’s performance data to see if automated creative yields the quality levels required for television-grade engagement.

The push for small and mid-sized business (SMB) advertiser dollars is intensifying as connected TV (CTV) inventory floods the market. Per adwave.com (July 2026), nearly 85% of small business advertisers now invest in CTV, a sharp increase from 60% in 2024. This growth is driven by falling entry costs; the average blended CTV CPM sat at roughly $26 by mid-2026, making the biggest screen in the house accessible to local budgets that were once limited to social media or search. For these advertisers, the primary obstacle is no longer the media buy, but the $15,000 to $50,000 typically required for professional video production, according to Mountain’s 2026 cost analysis.

Disney’s arrival in the automated creative space follows aggressive moves by its largest competitors. Amazon significantly expanded its lead in May 2026 by launching Dynamic TV Creative, which uses AI to personalize interactive ads on Prime Video in real-time. Meanwhile, per Business Insider (June 2026), other major players including TikTok and Google have similarly consolidated their AI generation tools into unified self-service consoles. This infrastructure war aims to capture the $37.95 billion in U.S. CTV ad spend projected for 2026 by eMarketer, a milestone year where CTV upfront commitments are expected to surpass primetime linear TV for the first time.

However, the move toward volume has raised quality concerns. A July 2026 study by WARC and TikTok involving 400 global marketers found that while 88% seen more creative output after adopting generative AI, only 45% reported a meaningful improvement in quality. Disney’s safeguard-heavy approach—litigating against AI founders like Midjourney while building its own internal models—is a unique positioning in this landscape. The company is betting that its strict adherence to internal creative standards will prevent the "quality gap" that has hindered other high-volume automated ad platforms.