The rapid expansion of self-service platforms across connected TV (CTV) is fundamentally changing how advertisers interact with streaming inventory. Major players such as Amazon Prime, Disney, NBCUniversal (NBCU), Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery have all made significant moves to provide self-serve tools, signaling a shift toward automation. While this transformation promises efficiency and scalability, it introduces complexity, especially for buyers.

Warner Bros. Discovery, for instance, has embraced the self-serve model by making its premium inventory more accessible. At the same time, NBCU’s One Platform continues to expand exclusive access content, integrated planning and measurement. Amazon Prime, through its DSP, enables advertisers to access not only Amazon's exclusive content but also its vast shopping data and third-party apps. These efforts reflect the industry’s growing focus on automation, yet they reveal a key point: “biddable” doesn’t necessarily mean “easy.”

Although these platforms are described as biddable environments, they currently require more than setting up a deal ID and walking away. Even in self-serve scenarios, publishers must converse with clients to understand their spending goals, audience targeting and inventory requirements.

Running a biddable campaign still involves frequent check-ins to ensure the campaign aligns with inventory availability and advertiser goals. It's an ongoing process, not a “set it and forget it” model, requiring active participation from both the advertiser and the publisher.

This growing complexity falls heavily on buyers. As publishers roll out self-service tools, advertisers must manage campaigns across multiple platforms, each with its inventory, targeting capabilities and KPIs. Access to exclusive inventory, proprietary data and capabilities often requires using these self-serve platforms, which introduces a new layer of buyer responsibility. They can no longer rely on a single platform or team for campaign management; instead, they need to develop expertise across various tools—a skill set (and headcount availability) some may not yet possess.

The fragmentation of inventory and tools makes the buying process more hands-on than ever. While self-service platforms offer the potential for greater efficiency, they also place more operational burdens on advertisers and agencies. As a result, brands must either:

• Build in-house teams that can effectively navigate these platforms
• Manage CTV campaigns through a programmatic service that buys across but might not have access to some inventory and targeting capabilities
• Outsource their CTV buys to agencies that specialize in managing the increasing complexity of the CTV ecosystem

Self-service platforms can potentially reduce publishers' costs by eliminating the need for large sales teams. Disney’s goal to automate 75% of its ad business by 2027 is a clear sign of the market's direction toward greater automation and scalability. But this doesn’t mean that traditional selling methods are going away. Many publishers still rely on direct sales for innovative ad formats, as programmatic technology has yet to integrate these offerings fully. 

Paramount’s self-serve platform, for example, was initially designed with small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in mind. By offering a low minimum spend of $500 and AI-powered creative tools, Paramount attracts digital-native marketers that might have previously avoided TV advertising. The platform’s ability to launch campaigns quickly and easily, using AI to convert web content into TV ads, appeals to these newer advertisers.

However, it's not just SMBs that are adopting self-service. Major advertisers, including some of the largest brands, are now moving significant portions of their budgets into biddable environments. IAB's 2024 Video Spend and Strategy report shows that big CTV spenders have buying behaviors similar to those of small spenders through programmatic. Self-service platforms, including private marketplaces, preferred deals and programmatic guarantees, account for roughly one-fourth of CTV transactions.

For advertisers, the shift toward self-service reflects a changing mindset. While traditional direct deals and upfront commitments still hold value, many brands embrace self-serve platforms' flexibility and control. They can adjust campaigns in real time, optimize reach and frequency, and experiment with different creative formats—all without the long lead times that once defined TV advertising. However, this shift also requires brands to allocate more resources to managing these biddable environments, which demand active oversight rather than passive management.

Despite the broad adoption of programmatic buying—75% of CTV inventory is now transacted this way—92% of innovative ad formats still predominantly go through direct channels. This illustrates the complexity of the market. Even as publishers invest in automation, some aspects of CTV advertising rely on traditional sales methods. The challenge for publishers will be integrating these innovative formats into their self-serve platforms without sacrificing the value that direct sales teams bring.

Ultimately, the rise of self-service platforms marks a broader transformation in CTV advertising. Publishers are turning to these platforms to streamline operations, reduce costs and scale their ad businesses. Meanwhile, advertisers are finding new ways to leverage CTV’s unique capabilities while confronting the growing complexity of navigating multiple platforms. The future of CTV advertising will be defined by the balance between automation and hands-on management as buyers and sellers adapt to this evolving ecosystem's demands.