Show-level transparency comes to streaming TV ads through Index Exchange

Index Exchange introduced on January 6, 2026, a new capability with Gracenote that enables show-level transparency for buyers without requiring activation against Gracenote segments. The announcement occurred at CES, with Spectrum Reach among the first media partners to adopt the solution, bringing premium streaming inventory to market with enriched contextual signals and program-level reporting.

The capability builds on Index and Gracenote's recently announced collaboration, which introduced the industry's first SSP integration of Gracenote IDs to support show-level transparency, brand suitability, and post-campaign reporting. Index is currently the only SSP providing show-level reporting powered directly by Gracenote's content ID graph built upon the media industry's most widely used metadata and persistent identifiers known as TMS IDs.

Index will provide buyers with a count of show-level impressions, giving brands a proof of purchase across their streaming investments on Spectrum Reach inventory transacted through Index. No user information is associated with the reporting, maintaining privacy standards while delivering transparency. This marks a substantial shift in how programmatic streaming television advertising operates within supply-side platforms.

"Marketers want deeper transparency and more actionable signals in streaming TV, and we are focused on making these capabilities simple to access through programmatic," said James Wilhite, VP of Product at Index Exchange. The statement underscores the company's commitment to advancing measurement and bringing meaningful innovation to both buyers and publishers within streaming television environments.

For buyers, the solution offers a streamlined way to access deeper visibility into where ads ran and how they performed across streaming TV. Program-level reporting helps marketers evaluate adjacency, ensure brand suitability, and strengthen planning and optimization decisions, all without additional workflow complexity or reliance on segment-based activation. This level of transparency enables marketers to understand the types of shows and content themes that perform well for their campaigns, informing future strategies even when they choose not to activate specific Gracenote segments.

The technical implementation represents a significant advancement in contextual advertising for streaming platforms. Traditional programmatic buying has operated with limited content context, forcing buyers to make purchasing decisions with incomplete information about adjacent content. Gracenote-powered segments and metadata now enable marketers to align advertisements with appropriate shows while avoiding placements that conflict with brand standards.

For media owners, the capability introduces a scalable and privacy-safe method of bringing contextual data to programmatic marketplaces. Spectrum Reach's early adoption demonstrates how media owners can use Gracenote metadata to differentiate streaming supply, improve transparency for media buyers, and retain full control over when and how program-level information is shared. Publishers maintain authority over data distribution while providing buyers with enhanced contextual intelligence.

"Gracenote and Index are working together to make content-based data more interoperable and practical for modern ad buying," said Jake Richardson, VP Partnerships at Gracenote. The content ID graph helps unlock a clearer view of program-level performance, supporting stronger outcomes for both sides of the ecosystem. The partnership addresses fundamental inefficiencies in programmatic streaming environments where granular content information has historically remained inaccessible to demand-side platforms.

Spectrum Reach's adoption reflects the value of enhanced contextual transparency for media owners seeking to strengthen advertiser trust while protecting viewer privacy. "The combination of transparency and high-quality, privacy-focused data are the foundation of smart media investments and help drive better decisions," said Daniel Callahan, Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer at Spectrum Reach. Working with Index Exchange and Gracenote helps the company provide advertisers with even more enriched streaming inventory benefiting both advertisers and viewers.

The collaboration reinforces the companies' shared goal of advancing a more transparent, contextually aligned and measurement-ready environment for streaming TV. This positioning comes as Connected TV advertising spending approached $33.35 billion in 2025, with budget allocation doubling from 14 percent in 2023 to 28 percent in 2025 according to industry projections referenced throughout programmatic advertising analysis.

The technical infrastructure enabling this capability relies on TMS IDs, which serve as persistent identifiers across the media industry's content ecosystem. These standardized identifiers enable consistent program tracking across multiple distribution platforms and advertising environments. Gracenote has aggregated, normalized and enriched core program metadata covering over 50 million titles in 260+ streaming catalogs across 70+ languages and 80+ countries, according to company documentation.

The implementation addresses critical gaps identified in recent industry research. Gracenote's report released in October 2025 revealed that 32 percent of respondents consider their CTV advertising "not very effective," while only 9.2 percent prioritize contextual targeting at the program level. This pattern revealed what Gracenote characterized as a fundamental mismatch between marketing objectives and tactical execution across streaming advertising.

Brand awareness emerged as the primary objective for 30 percent of respondents in that survey, yet targeting strategies told a different story. Demographic targeting topped the list at 29.5 percent importance, followed by interest-based targeting at 21 percent and geographic targeting at 19 percent. Contextual targeting at the program level received only 9.2 percent prioritization, despite brand awareness objectives typically benefiting from contextual alignment rather than narrow audience targeting.

The new Index Exchange capability directly addresses these strategic disconnects by making program-level targeting accessible without requiring segment-based activation. Buyers can access show-level transparency through standard programmatic workflows rather than implementing separate contextual targeting systems. This integration removes technical barriers that have historically limited contextual advertising adoption within streaming environments.

Index Exchange has consistently advanced streaming TV measurement capabilities throughout 2025. The company introduced duration-based reporting on September 12, 2025, addressing fundamental limitations in legacy programmatic metrics that treat all impression opportunities equally regardless of time duration. The new measurement approach acknowledges that 30-second impression opportunities provide significantly more advertiser value than 6-second placements.

StackAdapt reported 71 percent infrastructure improvements through Index Exchange pod bidding implementations in July 2025. The collaboration addressed technical challenges in programmatic streaming environments where ad pods are typically flattened into individual bid opportunities, creating inefficiencies across the supply chain. The Gracenote integration complements these broader strategic initiatives focused on streaming television optimization.

The partnership positions Index Exchange and Gracenote at the intersection of streaming content intelligence and programmatic advertising efficiency. Publishers gain enhanced monetization tools while maintaining data control, and buyers receive transparency necessary for confident streaming TV investment decisions. This represents a maturation of programmatic streaming infrastructure as platforms balance advertiser demands for transparency with publisher requirements for data control.

Gracenote's content intelligence extends beyond simple program identification into comprehensive metadata that enables sophisticated advertising applications. The company launched Gracenote Content Connect on December 4, 2025, introducing program-level ad targeting capabilities that provide agencies and DSPs standardized metadata access for precise CTV campaign execution and brand-safe placements. That platform operates across connected television environments, providing standardized metadata for ad targeting across multiple ad-supported CTV platforms and streaming services.

The announcement comes as streaming platforms demonstrate increasing openness to programmatic capabilities. Pinterest expanded programmatic access through Index Exchange and Criteo partnerships, with Index Exchange added to Pinterest's ads.txt file on November 28, 2024. Zillow piloted containerized real-time bidding with Chalice and Index Exchange in August 2025 to balance quality and cost in programmatic advertising.

Brand suitability concerns have intensified across digital advertising environments, making contextual intelligence increasingly valuable for advertisers. DoubleVerify research released in November 2025 found that almost two-thirds of marketers who advertise on social media expressed concerns about brand suitability in these placements. The study showed 64 percent of consumers say the genre of nearby content influences their perception of ads.

Context and content adjacency significantly influence consumer brand perception, according to that research. Lifestyle content generated the most positive brand perception at 53 percent, while horror content produced the most negative impact at 23 percent. Ad adjacency effects doubled negative perception rates compared to general platform suitability, underscoring the importance of contextual placement beyond platform-level brand safety measures.

The Index Exchange and Gracenote collaboration provides concrete solutions to these adjacency concerns through granular program-level controls. Do-Not-Air capabilities embedded within Index's platform enable publishers to specify exactly when and where advertisements should not appear, preventing brand safety violations before they occur rather than measuring them after the fact. This proactive approach represents a fundamental improvement over verification-only systems.

Spectrum Reach operates as the advertising sales business of Charter Communications, providing custom advertising solutions for local, regional and national clients across 36 states and 91 markets. The company's early adoption of Gracenote-powered show-level reporting signals confidence in contextual transparency as a competitive differentiator within programmatic streaming markets. Media owners can now demonstrate premium content quality through verified program metadata rather than relying exclusively on audience data.

The shift toward contextual intelligence reflects broader industry recognition that audience targeting alone proves insufficient for brand advertising objectives. While performance marketing campaigns benefit from precise audience targeting, brand awareness and consideration objectives require contextual alignment that reinforces brand positioning through appropriate content adjacencies. Program-level transparency enables this strategic alignment at scale within programmatic environments.

Index Exchange's infrastructure supports this approach through technical implementations that respect both buyer needs for transparency and publisher requirements for data control. Publishers determine which inventory receives Gracenote enrichment and control sharing parameters for program metadata. Buyers access this enriched inventory through standard programmatic workflows without requiring separate integrations or workflow modifications. This balance between transparency and control addresses longstanding tensions between buy-side and sell-side priorities.

The timing of the announcement at CES 2026 reflects connected television's position at the intersection of consumer electronics and advertising technology. Television manufacturers, streaming platforms, and advertising technology vendors converge at CES to demonstrate innovations shaping the future of television consumption and monetization. Program-level reporting capabilities represent the maturation of programmatic streaming infrastructure as these previously separate ecosystems integrate.

Index Exchange made a strategic investment in First Party Capital as the advertising technology sector experienced accelerated innovation driven by artificial intelligence capabilities, announced during Cannes 2025 on July 14. According to Index Exchange CEO Andrew Casale, the programmatic market now stands 15 years into its development cycle, yet significant opportunities remain for improvement across the ecosystem.

The partnership between Index Exchange, Gracenote, and Spectrum Reach demonstrates how established programmatic infrastructure can evolve to address emerging market requirements. Rather than requiring completely new platforms or workflows, the solution leverages existing SSP infrastructure to deliver enhanced capabilities. This incremental innovation approach reduces implementation friction while delivering substantial improvements in transparency and control.

Measurement and transparency challenges have historically limited streaming television's effectiveness despite substantial budget allocation. The new capabilities address these limitations through deterministic program-level reporting rather than probabilistic models or panel-based measurement. Advertisers receive exact counts of impressions delivered against specific shows, providing proof of purchase that has been standard in other advertising channels but largely absent from programmatic streaming environments.

The collaboration positions contextual intelligence as complementary to audience targeting rather than replacement. Buyers can combine program-level targeting with audience parameters to achieve precise campaign execution that satisfies both brand safety requirements and performance objectives. This flexibility addresses diverse advertiser needs across brand awareness campaigns requiring broad contextual alignment and performance campaigns requiring precise audience reach.

Privacy considerations remain paramount throughout the implementation. The solution operates without sharing user information, relying exclusively on content metadata and aggregate impression counts. This privacy-safe approach enables transparency without compromising viewer privacy or requiring personal data sharing between platforms. As privacy regulations intensify globally, contextual advertising represents a sustainable alternative to user-level tracking mechanisms.

The announcement reinforces Index Exchange's positioning as the leading independent supply-side platform focused on publisher success and advertiser transparency. The company has consistently prioritized industry standard adoption and infrastructure improvements over short-term revenue optimization. The company introduced dynamic pricing models in October 2025 that prioritize publisher revenue over platform profit margins, demonstrating commitment to supply-side economics.

For the marketing community, the development provides concrete tools to address strategic misalignments between objectives and tactics that have limited streaming television effectiveness. Marketers can now access program-level transparency through standard programmatic workflows rather than requiring direct publisher relationships or premium pricing models. This democratization of contextual intelligence enables sophisticated brand advertising execution across diverse advertiser segments and budget levels.

The collaboration addresses industry-wide challenges around metadata standardization and interoperability. Gracenote's persistent identifiers enable consistent program tracking across multiple distribution platforms, solving fragmentation challenges that have complicated streaming television measurement. Shows appearing across multiple platforms can now be tracked consistently through TMS IDs, enabling accurate frequency management and reach measurement across fragmented streaming environments.

Timeline

• July 29, 2024 — Gracenote introduces Contextual CTV Ad Targeting with industry partnerships
• July 1, 2025 — StackAdapt achieves 71% infrastructure improvements with Index Exchange podding
• July 14, 2025 — Index Exchange invests in First Party Capital as programmatic enters AI-powered phase
• August 19, 2025 — IPG Mediabrands launches Acxiom Contextual CTV solution powered by IRIS_ID
• September 12, 2025 — Index Exchange advances duration-based metrics for streaming TV measurement
• September 16, 2025 — Index Exchange first SSP to integrate Gracenote contextual intelligence
• October 1, 2025 — Gracenote report highlights contextual targeting gap in CTV advertising
• October 6, 2025 — Mozilla Ads selects Index Exchange as first programmatic partner
• October 23, 2025 — Index Exchange introduces dynamic pricing model prioritizing publisher revenue
• November 11, 2025 — Index Exchange files antitrust lawsuit against Google over ad tech monopoly
• November 18, 2025 — DoubleVerify study reveals advertisers face mounting brand suitability concerns
• December 4, 2025 — Nielsen's Gracenote debuts program-level ad targeting for streaming TV
• January 6, 2026 — Index Exchange launches Gracenote-powered show-level reporting with Spectrum Reach at CES

Summary

Who: Index Exchange Inc., one of the world's largest independent supply-side platforms, partnered with Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen. Spectrum Reach, the advertising sales business of Charter Communications, serves as an early adopter. Key executives include James Wilhite, VP of Product at Index Exchange; Jake Richardson, VP Partnerships at Gracenote; and Daniel Callahan, Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer at Spectrum Reach.

What: The partnership delivers show-level reporting powered by Gracenote's content ID graph built upon TMS IDs (persistent media identifiers). Index provides buyers with counts of show-level impressions without requiring activation against Gracenote segments. The solution enables program-level transparency, brand suitability controls, and post-campaign reporting while ensuring no user information is associated with reporting. Media owners can differentiate premium supply and control when and how program data is shared.

When: The capability was announced on January 6, 2026, at CES. It builds on Index and Gracenote's collaboration announced September 16, 2025, which introduced the industry's first SSP integration of Gracenote IDs. Spectrum Reach is among the first media partners to adopt the solution.

Where: The capability operates within Index Exchange's supply-side platform infrastructure, accessible to buyers through standard programmatic workflows. Spectrum Reach brings premium streaming inventory to market with enriched contextual signals across its 36-state, 91-market footprint. The solution applies to streaming television advertising environments transacted through Index Exchange.

Why: The development addresses strategic misalignments where 32 percent of media professionals find CTV advertising "not very effective" despite significant budget allocation. Only 9.2 percent of marketers prioritize contextual targeting at the program level, even though brand awareness represents the top advertising objective. The solution provides transparency without additional workflow complexity, enables brand suitability evaluation through program-level reporting, and introduces privacy-safe contextual data delivery to programmatic marketplaces. For buyers, it delivers deeper visibility into ad performance and content adjacency. For publishers, it creates scalable methods to differentiate premium supply while maintaining data control.