2024 TV Trends Predicted by 19 Industry Execs

In 2024, the entertainment and media industry is hoping to welcome several new TV bundles of joy. For Adweek’s year-in-review TV coverage, we asked 19 TV executives and ad sales insiders to explain the TV and streaming topics that will dominate 2024. From more bundling to a FAST rise in AI and a renewed focus on quality, here are the trends that will break through the TV static in the new year: NBCUniversal Aims to Democratize CTV Through More Accessible Tech for Ad Buyers Frances Berwick, chairman, NBCUniversal Entertainment: The viewer experience and meeting audiences where they want to be. The focus on content delivery models continues to increase and platform ecosystems like NBCUniversal will continue to redefine how content is consumed seamlessly across linear and streaming. Kelly Campbell, president, Peacock and DTC, NBCUniversal: Engagement will continue to be a much-discussed metric in the streaming industry, as advertising-supported direct-to-consumer businesses like ours rely on consistent customer viewership. At Peacock, our priority is deeply understanding our audience to ensure that we bring consumers an experience that brings them in today, and well into the future. Sean Downey, president, Americas and global partners, Google and YouTube: I see two twin engines of change that will shape the conversations in 2024—the continued evolution of consumer behavior and the incredible power of AI to deliver better experiences for viewers and advertisers. Craig Erwich, president, Disney Television Group: Audiences will continue to flock to can’t-miss live cultural events on television. Rita Ferro, global advertising president, Disney: I think effectiveness and the quality of the streaming experience is going to be super important. Effectiveness on the advertising side because you know, with so many options of where customers could spend their money, the ability to really drive outcomes and connect with the consumers that they're looking for in experiences that are relevant and contextually enhanced with the products and services that they're on and the platforms that they're on is really important. Kathleen Finch, chairman and CEO, U.S. Networks, Warner Bros. Discovery: How to balance content pipelines so that we're not producing too many series, or too few. The past few years have seen an overabundance of content, not all of it good. Marianne Gambelli, president of advertising sales, marketing and brand partnerships, Fox Corporation: The media landscape continues to evolve at a lightning-speed pace. It feels like the dominance of SVOD gave way to the meteoric ascent of AVOD and CTV in the blink of an eye. In 2024, the blurring of the lines between linear, digital and streaming will lead to an active period of creative ways of bundling and re-bundling premium video, which will transform the TV industry. Alison Hoffman, president, domestic networks, Starz: Bundling and packaging to drive top-line growth will remain a hot topic. From a cost perspective, there will continue to be attention on how the big, broad-based streamers will prune their portfolios to carve a path to profitability in the digital world. Kim Kelleher, chief commercial officer, AMC Networks: 30 years ago, Bruce Springsteen sang about 57 channels and nothin’ on. Today it’s more like 57 great shows and no idea where to find them. We need to make things easier for consumers, across content discovery and consumption. In 2024, we will see new partnerships and bundles that will move us in this important direction. Peter Olsen, president ad sales, A+E Networks: Measurement and transparency are still a mess. There will be a lot of noise around these topics. Mark Marshall, chairman, global advertising and partnerships, NBCUniversal: I might be biased with this one, but the 2024 Olympics in Paris and Paralympic Games will—without a doubt—dominate the TV landscape in 2024. Not only are the Games being completely reimagined with some of the world’s most iconic backdrops, but the entire Opening Ceremony will take place along the spectacular River Seine. With the Olympics, we have this incredible opportunity to unite cultures and communities at a time when I’d say the world needs it the most. Amy Reisenbach, president, CBS Entertainment: Quality vs. quantity. Here’s What You Can Expect From Disney+’s Ad Tier in 2024 Dina Roman, svp, global ad sales, Fubo: While several topics across the TV landscape will rise to the top in 2024, the industry should be paying close attention to AI. The impact of AI on CTV advertising has not yet reached an inflection point. There is still a great deal of opportunity for AI to improve personalized ad experiences and tie those back to ad performance data on CTV. This is especially true in the areas of creative versioning and optimization across channels. Rob Sharenow, president, programming, A+E Networks: Within the corporate hallways, it will be about the ongoing quest to figure out common or comprehensible measures of success and monetization. Kristina Shepard, vp global advertising and sales partnerships, Roku: Consumers are increasingly comfortable buying products directly from social, mobile and display ads. While extending this behavior to the realm of TV streaming is a relatively recent development, 2024 will see big increases and developments for shoppable TV. Donna Speciale, president of U.S. advertising sales and marketing, TelevisaUnivision: Creator-driven content and marketing. There will be a heightened focus on cultural relevance in new areas as brands look to reach audiences through the lens of authenticity. Jon Steinlauf, chief U.S. advertising sales officer, Warner Bros. Discovery: The 2024 elections (local and national), ad-supported streaming and artificial intelligence. We can expect increased ad spending by political campaigns and a shift in audience behavior towards political news. In 2023, there were a lot of general conversations around AI and the focus in 2024 should be on actual use, such as targeted marketing, predicting audience behavior and creative opportunities. With most streaming platforms now offering an AVOD tier, the importance of ad-supported streaming to both consumers and brands will continue to grow. Rob Wade, CEO, Fox Entertainment: We are already seeing an emerging trend, which is quickly becoming a new industry standard, where companies are looking abroad for top creators and production partners for premium content. Working within this global framework, we have the ability to expand the storytelling and ultimately build new business models. Carly Zipp, global director of brand marketing for Amazon Ads: Mr. & Mrs. Smith with Donald Glover and Maya Erskine will definitely be dominating all of my conversations in 2024. But looking ahead at the industry, I see us focusing more and more on live sports and the significant opportunity we have in STV—this includes creator-driven properties such as Twitch and new offerings including Prime Video ads.

Year in Review

These Topics Will Dominate the TV Landscape in 2024, According to 19 Industry Execs

Experts predict a FAST rise in AI and more streamers bundling up

Bill Bradley

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Bill Bradley