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.
