Last week, our resident TV and tech expert, Hugh Scallon, headed to IAB New Fronts (aka the world’s largest digital content marketplace) for some boots on the ground journalism on NewFronts 2026 Tech and Marketing Trends.
ICYMI the newest innovations in CTV plus the latest TV upfronts, we gathered all the major breakthroughs and updates (thanks Hugh!) into one place.
Here’s are the 6 signals you need to know:
📲 Welcome to the Takeover
Your favorite platforms are changing, and with that, so are the ways we advertise on social media. TikTok took the NewFront stage to announce its Logo Takeover. This is a new format that allows advertisers to own the first impression across every tab. Essentially, it offers advertisers a way to co-brand with TikTok from the app’s launch screen, so their logo and branding is the first thing viewers see when they open the app.
And they’re not the only ones. Snapchat revealed that in 2025, nearly 2 trillion 🤯‼️snaps had been created. That’s roughly about 63,000 snaps per second. With that staggering stat, they led into their latest announcement: Total Snap Takeover. This new format guarantees advertisers the first ad slot across each tab–from the camera and chat to the map and feed…simultaneously. In this new age, advertisers hold all the power, and they’ll be reaching new levels of scale.
🤖 AI Isn’t Just A Feature Anymore. It’s The Whole Thing.
Major names like Meta and YouTube aren’t just using AI to help generate content anymore. Instead, AI is fully orchestrating it. For example, we’re seeing AI that automatically adapts a single creator asset and transforms it into dozens of different layouts, native to Reels, Shorts, and Stories. Marketers no longer need to spend time reformatting their content for it to work. Instead, AI is doing the heavy lifting, and at the same time, giving brands time back to focus on strategy rather than production.
⚡️ Relevancy Is What’s In
Two words to know going forward: cultural adjacency. Another major theme we saw from NewFronts 2026 was the idea that platforms are moving away from broad demographic targeting. Instead, we can expect to see brands targeting highly relevant yet specific channels, through products like TikTok Pulse Mentions and Meta’s Reels Trending Ads. As different topics and trends gain traction online, these updates can conveniently place ads exactly where users are already discussing them in real-time. Keeping your finger on the pulse, and inserting your brand into the most relevant online convos, has never been easier.
💡 AI Is Leveling Up (Again)
During the same week, we also received an early Upfronts recap with the latest news in CTV, starting with a deep dive into Google and Samsung’s latest generative AI advancements. What was once seen as a “future promise” is now embedded across ad stacks, driving performance, planning, and measurement at scale. GenAI has become part of the very infrastructure behind Google’s Gemini 3.0, as well as Samsung’s new intelligence layer.
What that means: From media planning to creative optimization, everything will be automated. Plus, it will be more cohesive than ever before. GenAI will be used to connect fragmented media, data, and workflows into one AI-powered system, ideal for quick and efficient ROI.
🛒 The Couch To Cart Pipeline
TV isn’t just TV anymore. The evolution of television, that today’s brands are leaning into, have less to do with what’s on TV but rather what you do with it. With collaborations between Walmart/Vizio and Samsung/Amazon, TV is transforming into an interactive, live shopping storefront. With Walmart and Vizio’s Smart TV partnership, viewers can seamlessly maneuver between discovery straight into purchasing. Similarly, Samsung has teamed up with Amazon, enabling Amazon Ads DSP to launch the era of “performance TV,” extending shoppable reach to up to 90% of households. Big screen reach + commerce data = the retail renaissance is here.
📺 Fandom Is Redefining How We Watch
Fandom is everywhere and your TV providers know that. Tubi announced the launch of ‘Tubitopia,’ a space built for Gen Z, by Gen Z. Bringing in some of your favorite influencers and other viral talent, Tubi’s creatorverse will focus on culturally relevant content designed for younger audiences, while ushering in video-on-demand (as opposed to live viewing.)
#CLIENT
👇 The TLDR
The evolution of social media, and the insight all marketers need to prepare for going forward, is that socials are now dependent on real-time participation. The NewFronts 2026 Tech and Marketing Trends revealed that more than ever before. The brands that are finding success aren’t the ones just promoting their products, but rather, the ones that treat their social channels as live, automated storefronts. From now on, every post is an opportunity to direct consumers from viewing to purchasing. And that’s evolved into the streaming experience too.
Ultimately, the marketplace is undergoing a major shift, as AI and shoppable commerce become inseparable elements to the way we consume media. The brands who pay attention now, and focus on the discovery-to-retail experience, are the ones redefining success in 2026.