Disney enhances live ads: "Significant Advancement," Says Amy Lehman

As demand for live sports and entertainment on streaming platforms surges, Disney is aggressively enhancing its advertising technology to capitalize on this trend. The media giant has rolled out two significant ad tech advancements in recent weeks, designed to meet advertiser demand and align with the dynamic nature of live content.

Disney is now expanding its live ad inventory into biddable marketplaces through its proprietary Ad Server. This move allows advertisers to programmatically access valuable live ad space across Hulu and Disney+, which now includes ESPN and ABC News content for eligible subscribers.

Further streamlining the buying process, Disney is also supporting Google’s Display & Video 360 (DV360) Instant Deals feature via the Disney Real-Time Ad Exchange (DRAX) in the U.S. This integration enables buyers to swiftly create deals within the DV360 marketplace, selecting Disney inventory, applying targeting, and activating deals instantly. Given that DV360 was already integrated with Disney's marketplace through DRAX Direct, this partnership further simplifies and expedites the process for advertisers.

Amy Lehman, SVP of Ad Platforms at Disney, emphasized the significance of these advancements, stating, "This is a significant advancement in our ad technology. Disney is not only making valuable live ad inventory available to advertisers but also enabling automated workflows to simplify access for buyers."

The launch of these biddable integrations follows Disney’s rollout of its LIVE Sports & Entertainment certification. This certification assures platforms like Google’s DV360, The Trade Desk, Yahoo DSP, and Magnite that they "can confidently leverage spikes in viewership and scale during pivotal live moments," according to Jamie Power, SVP of Addressable Sales.

Power further elaborated on Disney's strategy, "Our goal hasn’t changed — and that’s to make it as easy and flexible for our clients to buy Disney, across all platforms and marketplaces. By expanding our support for a range of deal types and expanding biddable capabilities across live sports, streaming, and entertainment, we’re laying the foundation for powering biddable automation and outcomes at scale."

Disney has long been a leader in addressable advertising within live programming, supported by its proprietary ad tech stack. This technology now also enables dynamic ad insertion (DAI) for live events on Disney+, a capability already available on Hulu. By extending Live DAI across both platforms, Disney is driving scaled personalization, ensuring viewers see more relevant ads, minimizing disruption, and delivering greater value to advertisers in the rapidly evolving live streaming landscape.

Lehman concluded, "Disney has a leadership position in live streaming thanks to extensive technological expertise, decades of operational experience, and sophisticated global infrastructure. Combining that with our leadership in ad technology by building a suite of products that enable personalization and interoperability allows us to meet the demands of the market to drive greater impact." These latest integrations underscore Disney's commitment to innovation in the streaming advertising space.