Wurl’s Latest CTV Trends Report Uncovers Significant Opportunity for Advertisers on Streaming News Channels

Key Terms

scene-level contextual targeting technical

Scene-level contextual targeting is an advertising method that analyzes the visual and situational elements of a webpage, video, or app screen—such as objects, locations, and overall mood—to place ads that match that immediate content rather than user data. For investors it matters because it offers a privacy-friendly way to keep ads relevant and measurable; like placing a sunscreen ad on a sunny beach photo instead of relying on personal profiles, it can influence publishers' ad revenue and ad-tech competitiveness.

brand safety technical

Brand safety is the set of practices and controls companies use to prevent their name, ads or content from appearing alongside harmful, offensive, or misleading material online. Investors care because damage to reputation can reduce sales, ad revenue, partnerships and share value—think of it like keeping a storefront away from trouble to protect customer trust and long-term earnings.

iab-aligned categories technical

IAB-aligned categories are a standardized set of content labels created by the Interactive Advertising Bureau to describe what a web page or article is about, like 'sports,' 'health,' or 'finance.' For investors, using these labels is like putting colored tags on inventory: it makes it easier for advertisers to find and buy audience-relevant placements, improves automated ad targeting and brand safety, and can lift ad demand and pricing for a publisher’s content.

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Insights reveal more than one-third of News scenes are brand safe, underscoring the role of scene-level analysis in helping advertisers move beyond broad News exclusions

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Wurl, a leader in the streaming TV industry, today released its latest CTV Trends Report exploring the realities of brand safety within News programming on free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST). The data challenges long-standing assumptions around News, highlighting how advances in scene-level contextual targeting are helping advertisers unlock premium inventory with greater precision and confidence.

As streaming audiences continue to grow, News channels provide a strong opportunity to reach highly-engaged audiences. In fact, Wurl’s report found that News accounts for about 8.6% of all FAST viewing hours – with some households consuming almost exclusively News content. Devices that spend more than 90% of their time watching News account for 7.4% of viewing hours across all FAST genres, creating a meaningful audience segment unreachable through other genres. Still, many advertisers continue to rely on broad genre- and channel-level exclusions that limit access to News inventory entirely, sacrificing reach and performance.

“Brand safety has historically forced advertisers into an all-or-nothing approach with News,” said Dave Bernath, CEO at Wurl. “But the reality is far more nuanced. Today, with scene-level contextual analysis, advertisers can evaluate the actual moment before an ad break rather than making assumptions about an entire channel or program. That changes the equation completely.”

Additional findings from the report include:

• More than one-third of News scenes are brand safe: Of all analyzed News content, 35.7% of scenes were classified as fully brand safe across IAB-aligned categories.
• A small but highly engaged segment drives the majority of News consumption: Just 6.4% of all devices account for over 80% of total News consumption, highlighting a highly-engaged audience that would be difficult to reach elsewhere.
• Brand safety risk in News is concentrated and predictable: When looking at specific categories, the majority of brand safety flags are driven by a handful of categories tied to real-world events, including Death/Harm, Violence, and War/Conflict. Several other commonly cited risk categories are far less prevalent.
• Brand safety risk profiles differ across red and blue-leaning News environments: Red-leaning content skews more toward War/Conflict and Derogatory themes, while blue-leaning content more frequently features Violence and Death/Harm.

As advertisers seek greater precision and control in streaming TV environments, scene-level targeting is reshaping how News inventory is evaluated and activated on the biggest screen in the home. Rather than relying on broad exclusions, advertisers can now identify suitable moments in real time through solutions like Wurl Advertising’s Scene-Level targeting – unlocking trusted, high-attention News audiences with greater confidence and scale.

To see all of the insights, read The CTV Trends Report: Rethinking Brand Safety and Audience Behavior on News Channels here.

About Wurl

Wurl is a leader in the streaming TV industry, developing innovative technologies for the delivery of content and ads on TV. The company supports publishers, streamers, and advertisers in growing viewership, maximizing revenue, and strengthening brand value. Wurl, LLC is owned by AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ: APP). For more information, visit www.wurl.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260520399647/en/

Tori Owens
Wurl
press@wurl.com

Source: Wurl