This year’s Cannes Lions felt less like a festival of fleeting creative brilliance and more like a summit for the future of media. Amidst the rosé and industry chatter, one message rang clear: connected TV (CTV) is the main event – and it’s getting complicated.
At the heart of the week’s biggest conversations? Standardization, trust, and the power of partnerships.
Fragmented Screens, Fragmented Standards
It’s no secret that CTV viewership is soaring. What’s less celebrated is the chaos that comes with it. In a roundtable discussion on the future of CTV, the lack of standardized formats was flagged repeatedly as a barrier to scale. If no two platforms behave the same, how can advertisers build with confidence?
It’s not just ad formats. Measurement is in disarray, too. With multiple currencies vying for dominance, confusion reigns.
The Data Dilemma
The buzzword of Cannes 2025? Data. But not in the vague, hype-heavy way it’s been tossed around for years. This time, the conversations were sharper – and more urgent.
From program-level reconciliation to outcome-driven planning, the industry’s leading voices agree: data needs to work harder – and work together. Those who can stitch together catalogs, metadata, and real-world outcomes will shape the next era of advertising.
Collaboration Over Isolation
In a global market defined by economic headwinds, political uncertainty, and tech disruption, a surprising trend emerged: a renewed appetite for partnerships.
DIY investments are losing favor, replaced by collaborative models that offer speed, scale, and shared risk. Exchanges, platforms, and publishers alike are embracing the idea that we’re stronger together — especially when trust is on the line.
TiVo’s Cannes Showcase: More Than Just Talk
In the midst of Cannes Lions, TiVo showcased the innovations shaping the future of media. At our central spot on the Croisette, visitors explored TiVo’s new vMVPD TV Schedule data, which extends our trusted traditional linear TV metadata to today’s leading streaming Pay-TV platforms. We also featured our Live Streaming Schedule Metadata, designed to support evolving live TV formats – from sports to special events – by building on TiVo’s trusted linear program schedule metadata.
Guests experienced TiVo OS™, our smart, viewer-centric TV operating system now powering TVs from Sharp, Thomson, Panasonic, and other leading brands across multiple countries around the world. We highlighted our suite of TiVo Advertising Solutions — including impactful Home Page Hero Ads and TiVo+, our ad-supported streaming service. Last – but certainly not least – we previewed DTS AutoStage™ Powered by TiVo™ — our leading in-car video content platform, now live across BMW and Mini vehicles, offering a glimpse into the future of seamless, on-the-go entertainment.
What Comes Next
If Cannes 2025 had a mantra, it was this: trust is the new currency. Whether in how we measure, how we scale, or how we collaborate, brands and platforms will need to lead with transparency and purpose.
For TiVo, this isn’t a pivot. It’s a confirmation. We’ve always believed that doing right by viewers is good business.
Check out some of the highlights from our events at Cannes Lions.
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