Key Points
- Xumo has expanded integrations with Gracenote and IRIS.TV to enhance contextual advertising capabilities across its FAST inventory.
- Gracenote will supply standardized program-level metadata and content intelligence across Xumo’s streaming inventory; IRIS.TV will provide AI-powered frame-by-frame video analysis and contextual signals.
- The combined solution spans approximately 2,000 channels across more than 30 platforms; Xumo says the integrations will help advertisers make more informed programmatic buying decisions.
Xumo is broadening its contextual advertising capabilities through expanded integrations with Gracenote and IRIS.TV, a move designed to provide advertisers with deeper content intelligence across the streaming platform’s free ad-supported television inventory, the companies said on Tuesday.
Xumo, a streaming joint venture between Comcast and Charter, said the enhanced integrations will offer marketers more detailed program- and video-level signals to improve audience targeting, brand safety and campaign effectiveness as FAST viewing continues to grow. The initiative combines Gracenote’s content metadata and classification capabilities with IRIS.TV’s artificial intelligence-powered video analysis technology, allowing advertisers to better understand the environments in which their ads appear.
Gracenote’s CTV Content Intelligence platform will provide standardized program-level metadata, content identifiers and taxonomies across Xumo’s inventory. The company said this creates a consistent framework for advertisers evaluating opportunities across FAST channels.
At the same time, IRIS.TV will deliver video-level contextual intelligence through AI-powered frame-by-frame analysis of content. The technology identifies contextual signals within both linear and on-demand programming, allowing advertisers to align campaigns with specific content categories and viewing environments. According to Xumo, the combined capabilities extend across roughly 2,000 channels distributed on more than 30 platforms.
“Xumo’s expanded integrations with Gracenote and IRIS.TV give marketers better tools to understand and activate around live streaming content,” Jerrold Son, the Vice President of Ad Revenue Operations at Xumo Advertising, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The additional contextual signals will help advertisers improve brand suitability, better navigate content genres and bring more actionable data into programmatic advertising workflows, Son promised.
The announcement is rooted in broader industry efforts to improve contextual targeting in streaming television as advertisers seek alternatives to traditional audience-based approaches amid evolving privacy standards and fragmented viewing behavior.
Jake Richardson, the Vice President of Partnerships at Gracenote, said the collaboration is intended to give buyers a deeper understanding of free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) content environments, while IRIS.TV executives emphasized the ability to connect advertising with specific content moments, including live sports and premium programming.
“As FAST platforms continue to grow into go-to destinations for viewers, precise ad placement within premium content has never been more critical,” Richardson said on Tuesday. “Through our partnership with Xumo, buyers gain clearer insight into content environments to maximize the impact of their FAST investments with greater confidence, contextual alignment and brand suitability.”
Xumo also highlighted continued growth across its FAST platform. The company said Xumo Play recorded approximately 40 percent year-over-year growth in monthly active users last year. Total hours watched increased 64 percent, while average viewing time per user rose 22 percent.
