Special Coverage
More than 2,200 people are in attendance at the 2026 StreamTV Show in Denver, including over 300 speakers and around 50 members of the news media, Questex Vice President Kevin Gray said in his opening keynote speech.
The address kicked off the full official day of the StreamTV Show, an event that continues to grow with each new year — and Gray is already thinking about the next conference.
The 2027 StreamTV Show will take place in August, an adjustment from the conference’s typical schedule, based on a need to rent out the entire Gaylord Convention Center in Denver, Gray said. Questex is also reprising its StreamTV Europe show next April — the inaugural StreamTV Show took place earlier this year — and the conference is expanding to Hong Kong, with dates to be announced.
Here is recap of some keynotes, fireside conversations, panel discussions and exhibits during the StreamTV Show on Wednesday…
12 a.m. ET (10:00 p.m. local) — Flo Rida has arrived.
That’s it for our coverage tonight.
More on Thursday!
11:30 p.m. ET (9:30 p.m. local) — Here is the full list of 2026 StreamTV Awards:
TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
Alex Groysman, Spectrum Reach
ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
Lauren Benedict, Roku
EMERGING LEADERS:
Chelsea Duong, Xumo
Elizabeth Lehrer, Pluto TV
Felipe Saltz, NBA
Kate Dery, AMC Global Media
Mike Gould, Cineflix Rights
Murphy VandeMotter, Madhive
Eric Steigelfest, PurePlay AI
Lady Learned, Xumo
CONTENT PARTNERSHIPS – ACQUISITION
Anthony Layser, Xumo
CONTENT PARTNERSHIPS – DISTRIBUTION
Stefan Van Engen, Xumo
MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
“The Holidays Are Brutal” by Pluto TV
INNOVATION IN ADVERTISING
Canela Media
INNOVATION IN CONTENT DELIVERY & DISTRIBUTION
“Create Your Own Multiview” by Comcast and MediaKind
INNOVATION IN MONETIZATION
“Digital Vending Machine” by Bango
INNOVATION IN USER EXPERIENCE
Robosoft Technologies
STREAMTV IMPACT AWARD
Roku
TRAILBLAZER AWARD
Vince Torres, Chief Marketing Officer, DIRECTV
FAST CHANNEL OF THE YEAR
F1 Channel by C15 Studio
STREAMING PLATFORM OF THE YEAR
Roku
See photos of the award winners by clicking or tapping here.
11 p.m. ET (9 p.m. local) — The awards ceremony portion of the Big Bash has kicked off, with a number of awards doled out already to Pluto TV, Canela Media and Xumo, among others. StreamTV’s Kevin Gray and Bevin Fletcher are presenting the awards.
10:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. local) — The Big Bash Reception & Awards kicks off with violin-driven covers by local musician Mia Asano. Performances include the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” theme song and Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger.” Concerto TV is sponsoring the performance.
10 p.m. ET (8 p.m. local) — The sun is setting on Denver, but the StreamTV Show is just heating up.
The Big Bash Reception & Awards program is coming up at 8:30 p.m. local time, with the Aurora Ballroom fully transformed for dinner and drinks. Following the awards show, a private concert with Flo Rida.
8:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. local) — When Evan Shapīro talks, a lot of people listen. When Evan says “YouTube is TV,” it invites a lot of debate.
If you thought that was a polarizing phrase, just wait until you hear what Shapīro has to say during the Media Universe Summit on Thursday. During the Outdoor Odyssey Reception, Shapīro offered a taste of what’s to come — and it will have a lot of people talking.
The Media Universe Summit starts promptly at 9 a.m. local time. View the agenda here.
7:15 p.m. ET (5:15 p.m. local) — During a fireside conversation, Charter’s Senior Vice president of Video Elena Ritchie said Spectrum TV saw a level of skepticism among video customers when the company first announced they were bundling ad-supported, network-owned streaming service with most Spectrum TV plans.
“Our first phase was getting through that period and helping customers understand that this is free, in perpetuity,” Ritchie said. Recently, customers have started to resonate with those free offerings — Charter has data that proves bundling streaming apps with pay TV plans boosts engagement across both products.
The bundles have also helped ease turnover among subscribers: If a customer activates an app bundled with their Spectrum TV plan, they’re significantly less likely to churn out, Ritchie said.
6:45 p.m. ET (4:45 p.m. local) — A panel discussion on the next era of connected TV (CTV) advertising has focused almost exclusively on how artificial intelligence is changing things in that part of the industry.
A decent chunk of the conversation focused on whether artificial intelligence content could be considered “premium” and “brand safe,” especially when it comes to how viewers perceive AI-created ad spots.
Bill Sheahan of Spectrum Reach said his company has partnered with a company called Waymark to help local advertisers — think mom-and-pop shops — spin up creative TV spots without a Hollywood budget or Madison Avenue consultants.
“It’s a human-AI collaboration,” Sheahan noted, emphasizing the point that the spot isn’t entirely AI created, but involves a lot of human scrutiny and intervention to develop a great spot that works across traditional TV channels and CTV alike.
6:15 p.m. ET (4:15 p.m. local) — Radial Entertainment CEO Jeff Shultz announced the company hired Carrie Ferman to serve as the company’s new Chief Operating Officer. She joins the company from Sony Pictures Entertainment, and held prior roles at NBC Universal and Remark Media.
The company is laser-focused on acquiring new content, including “FBI Files” and “New Detectives,” and will “double-down” on producing and licensing exclusive content under the Radial Originals brand.
1:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. local) — DIRECTV is sponsoring a number of pop-up coffee kiosks throughout the StreamTV Show, with locations in the main corridor and the exhibition hall. Have not had a chance to try a cup of Joe just yet, but it’s on the to-do list.
1 p.m. ET (11 a.m. local) — It did not take long for someone to ask a Fox executive about the company’s blockbuster deal to acquire Roku.
Speaking at the StreamTV Show, Adam Lewinson said it’s “business as usual,” but noted that the acquisition “is an extension of a strategy executed at Fox a decade ago.”
“Combining Fox and Roku creates a next-generation media company,” he noted.
Specific to Tubi, Lewinson said the platform is leaning into licensing and developing more family-friendly and kids content, while also leaning into genres that have worked well for the service, including horror films. Tubi currently has more than 1,000 horror movies.
12:40 p.m. ET (10:40 a.m. local) — The free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) side of the industry has a tremendous amount of long-term potential, but only if stakeholders — content owners and platforms — work to address some current pain points.
Wurl CEO Dave Bernath said there are three core areas that FAST content distributors and platforms should focus on: Monetization, Data and Discovery.
On the monetization side, content distributors need to take more agency in monetizing their TV shows and movies via FAST, Bernath said. When platforms sell 100 percent of the inventory, revenue per hour (RPH) on a household basis clocks in substantially lower than distributing that same content on a cable network.
“Platforms are taking too much of the revenue,” he said.
Wurl is the Title Sponsor of the 2026 StreamTV Show.
12 p.m. ET (10 a.m. local) — The first panel discussion focused primarily on the connected television (CTV) ecosystem and how various stakeholders in that part of the industry are meeting the needs of consumers and advertisers alike.
“For the whole screen, you have to meet the needs of the content providers, and getting consumers to the apps they want to go to; you have to meet the needs of advertisers, and you have to meet the needs of consumers and retailers,” TiVo’s Briana Larsen said. “You have to please everyone, or it’s not a good solution.”
Striking that balance is a delicate act, LG Electronics Vice President Matt Durgin said. It is important for platform developers to not get too bogged down on finding ways to generate revenue from their platforms to the point that it compromises relationships with content distributors and consumers.
“Ads are wonderful tools that can provide opportunities to consumers, but they don’t replace all the relationships that you have,” Durgin said. “As business people, we all look at the engagement metrics. If you did something with ads, or any of your technologies, that drops your engagement and the flow of consumer hours into your partners, you’ve just screwed up big time, and you’ve gotta fix that.”
To some, participating in the CTV space in an agnostic way is viewed as one of the best strategies. The Trade Desk is taking this approach with respect to content providers and advertisers alike — the company doesn’t own any streaming platforms, so it doesn’t have an incentive to promote its own content or experiences above others via its emerging platform called Ventura OS, according to Rob Caruso.
“That creates an interface that is truly unbiased and objective, and doesn’t push a particular narrative or a particular objective,” Caruso said. “Users can see that, and we’re seeing in our research that they don’t feel steered or shaped in any particular way — they’re just seeing content that would likely benefit them.”
Hong Kwon of Comcast segues between traditional live television and streaming platforms. Sports is still one of the few live events that attracts a unified, large audience, he noted. The objective of his platform, Xumo, is to get TV viewers engaged with content — across traditional linear streams or streaming platforms — the moment they turn on their sets.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re 20 years old or 85 years old — guess what? You’re all using apps,” Kwon said. “They may be different, but you have to have the (mindset of), just get me to the TV and let me watch something. It doesn’t matter if its FAST or ATV; it should be relevant to me.”
11:40 a.m. ET (9:40 a.m. local) — YouTube was caught somewhat by surprise when video podcasting took off on its platform, the company’s Vice President of Americas Tara Walpert said during a fireside conversation with Allison Brower.
But YouTube meshes naturally with video podcasters, given how the platform nurtures the content creator ecosystem and the desire of audiences to see who is speaking at any given moment.
“There’s an intimacy to it that really captures people and their everyday nature, particularly because podcast hosts are playing the roles of creators,” Walpert said. “In many cases, it goes even further — there’s no filter.”
Video podcasts are effectively long-form shows that just happen to be distributed via audio and video. They also offer a friction-less way for ordinary people and celebrities alike to launch a show and reach a large audience.
“Podcasting feels more accessible for traditional celebrities and experts in any field, so it’s a place that we see a lot of them get started,” Walpert said. “They’re bringing a degree of brand into their world, whether it’s an expert on institutional investment, or Christian Ronaldo who launched a podcast and had 20 million followers in 24 hours. People want to hear what he thinks about things beside soccer, and that is contributing to an amazing supply (of shows).”
—
See more coverage from the StreamTV Show on our LinkedIn page by clicking or tapping here. The Desk is an editorial partner of this year’s conference.
