Wurl's latest CTV Trends Report advocates for advertisers to re-evaluate their brand safety strategies on FAST news channels, suggesting that broad exclusions lead to missed valuable audiences. The report highlights how scene-level contextual targeting, which evaluates content moments before ad breaks, provides advertisers with more precise control to unlock premium inventory. Wurl's CEO Dave Bernath noted that this technology allows for a more nuanced approach to brand safety compared to traditional genre-level exclusions.
Wurl's report challenges current ad buying practices on FAST news, indicating that advertisers may be unnecessarily limiting reach by adhering to outdated brand safety strategies. Implementing scene-level contextual targeting could unlock a significant but often excluded audience segment for brands seeking engagement on CTV. This shift could push ad tech providers to enhance contextual targeting capabilities for monetizing news content and other genre-sensitive inventory. Watch for increased adoption of granular content analysis tools among advertisers and platforms, as well as potential shifts in ad spend toward previously avoided content categories leveraging this technology.
CTV buyers should revisit blanket news exclusions: Wurl’s data argues carefully allow-listed FAST news can unlock inventory without abandoning brand safety—if contextual and verification controls are contractual.
StreamingMeme’s take: “news = unsafe” is lazy media planning. Prefer partners that expose genre-level controls, spoofing signals, and outcome reporting.
Pairs with rising CTV ad loads and identity fragmentation—more inventory only helps if you can target and measure it.
Add StreamingMeme as a preferred source on Google to see more of our streaming news at the top of your Search results.
Add as preferred source