Colin and I are excited to welcome The Trade Desk’s SVP of Ventura TV OS Matthew Henick to the podcast for a deep dive interview about the company’s entrance into the ultra-competitive TV OS industry. Matthew explains why the Ventura OS is strategic to The Trade Desk’s core Demand-Side Platform, intended to drive more transparency in the CTV ad supply chain. 

Matthew’s perspective is that current operating systems’ lack of transparency creates pain points across the CTV industry, for advertisers, streaming providers, TV manufacturers, retailers and importantly viewers. For The Trade Desk the keys to resolving these pain points are enabling TV manufacturers with a sustainable, recurring business model while empowering streaming providers to optimize the value of their inventory. With a transparent TV OS, The Trade Desk’s DSP can further leverage its clients’ CTV ad spend. 

Matthew gets into the fine details of Ventura’s competitive advantages and how it will be distributed to traditional TV manufacturers, retailers and hardware providers, plus new segments like hospitality, airlines and others. Last but not least, Matthew asserts The Trade Desk’s commitment to objectivity means that unlike other TV OS providers, it will never build its own CTV, start its own streaming service nor present at a NewFront. 

Listen to the podcast to learn more (39 minutes, 22 seconds)

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Sports streaming continues to boom, as Paramount signed UFC to an exclusive 7-year deal worth $7.7 billion that will feature 43 events per year. It was the latest in a string of deals  that have seen enormous increases in fees paid to sports leagues and teams. New to the Paramount-UFC deal is that pay-per-view (a staple of UFC, wrestling and boxing for years) is being phased out in favor of the flat monthly subscription rate. We discuss the implications. 

Meanwhile ESPN and Fox One (both launching on August 21st) are creating a bundle for $40 per month, discounting the combination of their standalone services by $10 per month. Interesting for Colin and me is that the $40 per month price point is approximately the $43 per month that the ill-fated Venu Sports was priced. 

Last we explore the growth of “micro dramas,” short-form, serialized dramas that are proliferating on social media. Do they have staying power, or are they just a “Quibi 2.0,” that will flame out?

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Disney released a flurry of announcements this week - deeper integration of Hulu and Disney+, international brand transition from Star to Hulu, ESPN acquiring NFL Network and Red Zone, NFL investing billions in ESPN, and ESPN acquiring rights to stream major WWE events. 

We break it all down and handicap what it likely means to Disney’s future success. One thing that’s for certain: starting on August 21st, when the new ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming app launches, we will all begin to get the most authentic view yet of what ESPN is actually worth in the open market. 

After 45 years of ESPN’s expensive monthly rate being buried inside pay-TV’s multichannel bundle, along with speculation as to what sports fans would actually pay if charged directly, we will all find out. Disney has a lot riding on things turning out well in this new D2C approach. 

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First up this week, YouTube continued its strong ad revenue growth in Q2 2025, with revenue rising 13% to $9.8 billion, ahead of its forecast. There’s plenty of growth still ahead as Shorts gain traction, advertisers tap conversion opportunities and AI permeates both content and monetization. 

Meanwhile Samsung signed a number of creators to put original content on its Samsung TV Plus FAST service. But as we discuss, there seems to be a looming decision for creators whether they should simply focus on their YouTube channels as YouTube becomes increasingly dominant on TV screens. 

Last but not least, we dig into the challenges that both HGTV and Peacock are experiencing. 

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