Ahead of IAB NewFronts, which kicks off on March 23 in New York, Jamie Finstein previews the three big themes that will be front and center and what that means for the 2026 video market as you plan your budget investments.
IAB NewFront temperature-checks the streaming status every time. But 2026 feels different. The move to a March calendar was intentional. IAB changed NewFronts early in the planning cycle to give marketers the first look at video opportunities before budgets are committed.
It’s also an opportunity for platforms and publishers to get an early start on the industry by revealing the storytelling mix that will shape this year, from creator-driven projects to episodic series to new formats built for modern viewing habits.
The industry is already talking about three major themes that will be at the heart of IAB NewFronts. First, the push for streaming to prove real business results is accelerating. CTV is increasingly being called upon to enable commerce, close the loop on performance, and operate with the same accountability that advertisers expect across the digital landscape. Second, live programming is moving toward programmatic, turning live news, sports, and featured events into inventory accessible to more advertisers. And third, AI is emerging as an accelerator for the entire video ecosystem, from creative iteration to measurement.
If last year was about the constant evolution of video, this year is about putting that evolution into action.
1. Commerce enables accountability in streaming
The convergence of commerce and streaming has been going on for several years now. But the most meaningful change we’re looking forward to at this year’s IAB NewFronts is the evolution from leveraging rich retailer data for targeting to finally being able to measure results through closed-loop attribution.
Shopper signals, cleanroom collaboration, and shoppable creative that treats the largest screen like a storefront is probably the marriage of commerce and content we can expect. This aligns with the industry’s broader push toward the expectation that streaming doesn’t just exist at the top of the funnel, but can and should deliver results as well.
IAB’s broader 2026 outlook reflects the same storyline. The marketplace will drive performance validation, seamless integration of streaming and shopping experiences, and ease the transition from impression to action.
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What this means for the video market in 2026:
- Shoppable creative matures: QR-enabled videos, pause-to-purchase ads, and product feed overlays will increasingly be touted as solutions offered across partners, reflecting a shift in the way publishers and advertisers are thinking about the role of video in commerce.
- Full funnel description: Those with omnichannel footprints will tout that they are no longer just a single purchase arrangement, but an infrastructure. It bundles content, data, and attribution and is designed to bring together more spend in one cohesive environment instead of spreading it across countless partners.
2. Live will start to go programmatic, allowing advertisers to stream their moments
Live content is definitively moving to streaming, but the bigger story in 2026 is: how Live inventory is purchased. As programmatic access expands, advertising within top-rated shows like sports is no longer just for top advertisers. Programmatic allows streaming at scale, following the same path that was once only found in search and social. With a self-service platform, AI-powered video activation and viewer tools, and reduced minimum spend, small and medium-sized advertisers can access premium streaming inventory, effectively target, and optimize ongoing campaigns.
Live streaming is increasingly expected to emerge in programmatic environments, positioned as part of a broader video inventory pool rather than a separate service. And live doesn’t just add scale to streaming, it redefines who has access to high-impact moments and how they’re purchased post-live.
What this means for the video market in 2026:
- Premium reach becomes more flexible: Access to live streaming via biddable means allows advertisers to apply guardrails such as frequency caps and geolayers. This is a tool that has not been previously available in live tent pole moments.
- SMB enters the live arena. What once required an up-front commitment is now available to small and medium-sized businesses with both reach and acquisition goals.
- More publishers will focus on live. Live content, especially news, has traditionally presented challenges for advertisers. Programmatic access to live content allows publishers to serve ads in relevant environments while maintaining the guardrails required by brands and agencies.
What is “live” inventory? The IAB Tech Lab is simultaneously working on: live event playbook As part of IAB, we enable scalable and reliable ad serving for live streaming environments. Work to redefine media types.
3. AI will be the connective tissue of the entire streaming ecosystem
You don’t need a crystal ball to predict that most, if not all, IAB NewFronts presentations will use AI. But the change this year is likely to be a shift from AI as a novel concept to AI becoming a technical and operational layer that brings coherence to an increasingly complex video market and simultaneously powers contextual relevance, measurement, and creativity. AI is no longer experimental. These capabilities are positioned as core tools for 2026.
What this means for the video market in 2026:
- Scene level and multimodal context: Technology that reads signals from within content to inform targeting, relevance, and creative decisions will become a reality.
- AI-powered measurement and normalization: This is important to combat fragmentation and enable faster, more decisive insights.
- creative automation: Variant testing, resizing, and iterating creative based on content and audience should be services that presenters are likely to start offering next year.
IAB NewFronts is where these changes will be realized. At this event, held across New York City from March 23rd to 26th, advertisers and agencies will learn what’s best for their businesses and understand what opportunities our partners have to help them achieve their goals.
Please show up. Take notes. And get ready to plan for the next fiscal year.
Jamie Finstein is Vice President of Media Center at IAB
Register to secure your pass to IAB NewFronts 2026 here.
