Xumo adds Gracenote and IRIS.TV contextual signals across 2,000 FAST channels

The integration brings program-level contextual targeting — long available in on-demand CTV environments — to FAST linear channels, where standardized metadata has been notably absent. This matters because FAST platforms have struggled with the transparency and brand-suitability controls advertisers expect from traditional linear TV, a gap TVREV analysts identified as the single biggest barrier to FAST ad spend growth. Xumo's move, backed by Comcast and Charter infrastructure, positions it ahead of competitors like Tubi and Pluto TV in contextual intelligence depth. Watch whether Gracenote's May 2026 finding — that 86% of US media planners would shift more linear budget to CTV given show-level targeting — translates into measurable ad revenue gains for Xumo in coming quarters.

Xumo has been rapidly building out its advertising stack throughout 2025 and 2026. At CES in January 2026, the company launched an advanced identity solution combining first-party data from Comcast and Charter households with TransUnion, LiveRamp, and The Trade Desk's UID2 framework for deterministic cross-device targeting (per BusinessWire, January 2026). Later that month, Xumo opened direct supply-path access to its inventory through The Trade Desk's OpenPath (per BusinessWire, January 2026). The Gracenote and IRIS.TV integration adds a contextual layer on top of these identity and supply-path investments.

Gracenote, a Nielsen business unit, has been expanding its advertising footprint independently. In December 2025, it launched Gracenote Content Connect, a self-serve platform enabling agencies and DSPs to build program-level contextual segments using its standardized metadata and content ID graph (per Gracenote, December 2025). In September 2025, Index Exchange became the first SSP to integrate Gracenote IDs, enabling show-level targeting and post-campaign reporting (per Nielsen, September 2025). Gracenote's own research found that 86% of US media planners would move more linear budget to CTV if show-level targeting and reporting were available (per Gracenote, May 2026).

The broader FAST market continues to grow at scale. EMARKETER forecasts that US FAST users will reach 131.4 million in 2026, representing 54% of all CTV users (per EMARKETER, April 2026). Amagi reported a 27% year-over-year increase in global FAST ad impressions across approximately 4,200 channels (per Amagi, March 2026). According to research cited in Xumo's BusinessWire announcement, relevant ads placed in the right content environments drive 5.2 times higher brand purchase intent (per BusinessWire, June 2026), underscoring the commercial stakes of contextual intelligence investments.