DMEXCO 2026 has announced the agenda for its 'World of Media' track in Cologne, focusing on the intersection of retail media, connected TV, and programmatic advertising. The event will feature dedicated summits and stages to address cross-platform reach measurement and the integration of creator content into professional media strategies for 2027.
The focus on merging retail data with connected TV signals a shift toward full-funnel attribution in streaming environments. As broadcasters and platforms like Disney and Media Impact navigate a fragmented market, the emphasis on programmatic digital out-of-home and audio suggests that cross-channel interoperability is becoming the baseline for 2027 media strategies. This convergence forces a move away from traditional channel silos toward a unified, data-driven media mix. Watch for specific technical standards for cross-platform measurement to emerge from the Screenforce-led discussions as agencies demand better scalability and brand safety in creator-led content.
The convergence of retail media and connected TV is reshaping how European advertisers allocate budgets, and DMEXCO 2026 sits at the center of that shift. In Germany, Screenforce reported that total TV advertising revenue reached €4.7 billion in 2025, with addressable and CTV formats growing at double-digit rates, underscoring why the World of Media track is dedicating sessions to cross-platform reach. Meanwhile, BVDW published updated guidelines in early 2026 for programmatic addressable TV buying in the DACH region, establishing common definitions for addressable inventory that DMEXCO panels are expected to reference when discussing interoperability standards.
On the business side, retail media networks are aggressively expanding into CTV as a distribution channel. REWE Group launched its own retail media CTV offering in partnership with Media Impact in March 2026, allowing FMCG brands to target shoppers on streaming platforms using first-party purchase data. That move mirrors a broader trend: Disney expanded its retail media partnerships in Europe by integrating shoppable ad formats into Disney+ in Q1 2026, giving CPG advertisers a path from streaming impression to point-of-sale attribution. These developments explain why DMEXCO 2026 pairs retail media summits with CTV stages rather than treating them as separate tracks.
Measurement remains the critical technical bottleneck that DMEXCO 2026 aims to address. AGF Videoforschung announced in May 2026 that its cross-platform measurement system now covers CTV viewing on Samsung TV Plus, Pluto TV, and Joyn, marking the first time German audience measurement includes ad-supported streaming at scale. For advertisers, this means DMEXCO discussions around unified reach planning can reference actual panel-based data rather than platform-reported metrics. IQ Digital, the joint venture of major German publishers, published a study in April 2026 showing that combining CTV with digital out-of-home increased aided brand recall by 34% compared to either channel alone, providing empirical support for the cross-channel strategies that Corinna Hohenleitner and other speakers will advocate on the World of Media stage.
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