Next in Media Podcast Summary

Episode: How Roku Is Powering the Next Wave of CTV Advertising
Host: Mike Shields
Guest: Peter Hamilton, Head of Ad Innovation at Roku
Date: October 21, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Mike Shields sits down with Peter Hamilton, Roku’s Head of Ad Innovation, to discuss the accelerating evolution of Connected TV (CTV) advertising, the shift of digital-first and small brands into television, Roku’s strategy in the self-serve ad space, new partnerships, and the normalization of shoppable TV ads. The conversation also covers the real barriers to wider CTV adoption, the company’s open approach to partnerships (notably with Amazon), new streaming services like Friendly and Howdy, and the role of AI in future creative and campaign optimization.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who Are the "New" TV Advertisers & What’s Actually Growing?

• Clarification of Advertiser Types
  • Peter Hamilton differentiates "digital performance marketers" (data-driven, DTC brands moving from digital/social/search to CTV) vs. “Mom & Pop shops” (local, less sophisticated advertisers).
    • Quote (03:30):

      “Maybe the simplest way I would define two major groups would be to call them digital performance marketers and mom and pop shops.” – Peter Hamilton

• CTV Growth Driven by Digital-First Brands
  • Roku sees the fastest growth from sophisticated, digital performance buyers who are looking for new, scalable, measurable channels beyond saturated social/search.
    • Quote (05:03):

      “That group, the digital performance buyer, is the one that we’re seeing move more heavily into CTV.” – Peter Hamilton

• SMB Onboarding Remains Slow & Takes Scale
  • Building a meaningful SMB revenue stream is slow because each contributes a small amount. It takes years to meaningfully impact bottom-line results.
• DTC Brands Facing Saturation
  • DTC brands who grew up on Meta/Instagram are hitting limits and need more consideration-focused, evergreen channels to grow.
    • Quote (10:11):

      “How do you not find yourself sort of addicted to one channel…Because over time it will start to get more expensive and it will start to saturate…” – Peter Hamilton

2. Breaking Down Barriers for Advertisers on CTV

• Lowering Minimums, Opening the Platform

  • Roku Ads Manager now allows campaigns with no minimums, easy setup, and optimization to encourage experimentation from digital-native brands.
  • SMBs can sign up and be led through an automated onboarding process.

• Building a B2B Marketing Machine

  • Roku is rapidly developing its B2B marketing infrastructure, mirroring Meta and TikTok’s efforts to recruit advertisers with case studies, content, and automation.
    • Quote (11:56):

      “You gotta build the B2B marketing machine that Meta built early on…we’re fast at building that B2B marketing muscle…” – Peter Hamilton

3. Shoppability and CTV: The Rise of Interactive TV Ads

• "Okay to Text" – Shoppable Integration
  • The most potent interactivity: viewers can press “OK” on Roku remotes to have a text sent to their phone for links, offers, or further engagement.
    • Quote (21:31):

      “Our really best path is what we call 'okay to text.' Where someone presses OK on a commercial… and they can send themselves a text. Text open rates are super high.” – Peter Hamilton

  • This has moved from high-touch managed service to self-serve availability, opening up the format to more advertisers.
    • Quote (23:19):

      “Now literally you can just sign up for our Ads Manager and you can put okay to text in place.” – Peter Hamilton

• Interactivity as a Behavior
  • Viewers are quickly accepting these new patterns; response rates are promising (0.8–1%). Viewers like the privacy and control of interacting on their own device, in their own time.
    • Quote (25:02):

      “I can just press OK right now on this thing and I deal with it when I want to. It’s on my own timeframe.” – Peter Hamilton

4. Results & Case Study: DTC on Roku

• Fatty 15 (DTC Supplement Brand):
  • Used Roku’s Shopify integration, saw 120% ROAS, 1 in 4 cart ads resulted in purchase, cost per page view at $0.40, and unique household reach at $0.03.
    • Quote (13:19):

      “Fatty 15 is a great D2C example… saw very quickly results. They started to see ROAS at 120%...cost per unique household reach at like 3 cents.” – Peter Hamilton

5. Industry Partnerships & Platform Openness

• Amazon Deal: Partners, Not Enemies
  • Roku is collaborating with Amazon’s DSP; sees this as a new demand source, not a threat to its own ad tech or identity graph. Aims to let buyers use Amazon’s commerce data for more targeted TV advertising on Roku.
    • Quote (16:20):

      “Amazon has sort of a different approach…very commerce first…and for them to be able to use that data when they buy on Roku…is sort of their advantage.” – Peter Hamilton

    • Quote (18:06):

      “We want to remain open and have a partner-first approach…a rising tide lifts all boats.” – Peter Hamilton

6. Expanding Content & Consumer Offerings

• Acquisition of Friendly & Launch of Howdy
  • Friendly: Subscription linear TV bundle, bought to experiment with bundles and drive subscriptions, not major focus for ad inventory yet.
  • Howdy: Roku’s own $2.99/month ad-free streaming service, designed as a budget-friendly option with a deep catalog.

7. The Role of AI in Self-Serve CTV Advertising

• AI-Generated Creative is Emerging
  • A/B testing with AI avatars, synthetic spokespeople, and new video variants is starting to proliferate among self-serve advertisers.
  • Roku’s open platform welcomes all formats; their job is to surface real-time performance data so advertisers can continuously optimize.
    • Quote (26:02):

      “We’ve seen a lot of experimentation [with AI] on our platform…let the best creative win…keep that loop as real time and connected as possible.” – Peter Hamilton

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• The Nature of CTV Growth:

  “If you spend any time in the mobile app advertiser ecosystem, CTV is probably the hottest topic…invested in and expanded in the most.”
  — Peter Hamilton (09:00)

• Brand Building Still Matters:

  “The fundamentals of marketing still remain true…even though the funnels have all collapsed…you still gotta build a brand a little bit.”
  — Mike Shields & Peter Hamilton (10:02–10:07)

• Shoppable TV Future:

  “This is not old school text message marketing…we’re sending text messages because they asked us to.”
  — Peter Hamilton (25:34)

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:44 – 02:18: Introduction to Peter Hamilton and the changing CTV advertising landscape
• 03:11 – 05:51: Who are the new advertisers: SMBs vs. DTC Performance Marketers explained
• 05:58 – 10:41: Rise of digital performance buyers; DTC marketing and channel expansion
• 11:56 – 12:57: The challenge of onboarding SMB advertisers and building a robust B2B machine
• 13:19 – 14:59: Case study: Fatty 15’s success on Roku (DTC + Shopify integration)
• 16:20 – 18:35: The realities and strategy behind Roku’s Amazon partnership
• 18:50 – 21:04: Roku’s acquisitions: Friendly & Howdy, the thinking and opportunities
• 21:31 – 23:55: The rise of shoppable, “okay to text” ads and their self-serve rollout
• 25:02 – 25:41: How interactivity is becoming normalized and non-intrusive
• 26:02 – 27:35: AI-generated creative: experimentation and Roku’s platform response

Summary: Takeaways for Media, Marketing, & Advertisers

• CTV advertising is rapidly professionalizing, with growth led by performance-driven digital brands seeking new scalable channels as social/search plateau.
• Legacy “mom and pop” SMB adoption is slow but inevitable, requiring patient, B2B enablement and scale.
• Shoppable ads and direct response formats are now a reality on TV and are being normalized as consumer behaviors.
• Innovative partnerships (even with rivals like Amazon) and a commitment to open platforms give Roku flexibility and appeal.
• AI’s promise in creative is real but still experimental; Roku’s infrastructure is designed to harness this trend through robust, real-time data feedback loops.
• Roku continues to bet on a hybrid of platform, inventory, and product innovation to stay ahead of the rapidly changing CTV landscape.

For advertisers wondering about the next phase of TV, this episode shows that "test and learn" is as true for CTV as it’s ever been for digital – but the barriers are falling, and the screens (and engagement) are only getting bigger.