By Sam Wilson, VP, SpringServe, EMEA at Magnite
In just a few short years, ad-supported streaming has become a mainstay among UK audiences. Almost 70% of UK households had access to a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service in Q2 2026, and as streaming services increasingly embrace ad-supported models, advertisers have greater opportunities to reach addressable audiences at scale across premium streaming environments.
Initially, Connected TV (CTV) was seen as a fairly straightforward way to complement linear TV and extend reach. However, as ad-supported streaming subscriptions continue to grow in the UK, CTV has become an established and versatile advertising environment in its own right.
What’s more, the value of CTV is no longer limited to what happens during the video stream – the wider streaming experience also offers new moments for advertisers to engage audiences and publishers to generate revenue. New advertising evolutions such as pause ads and home screen inventory are evolving into scalable, programmatic opportunities.
The CTV experience is bigger than the video stream
For TV advertisers, the traditional model has centred on what happens around the content itself: pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll. Those opportunities remain important, but the streaming experience is much broader than the moments when a viewer is actively watching an ad-supported programme.
For example, pause ads appear when a viewer hits pause on their remote control, with the ad content lingering on-screen until playback resumes. They turn a moment of inactivity into a brand opportunity and are designed to be non-intrusive, giving brands a clear share of voice and allowing them to own the visual space, free from competing content. Research even suggests pause ads can deliver nearly twice the attention of standard commercial breaks because they align with natural user behaviour, rather than interrupting the viewing experience.
Advertising on the home screen is also becoming a more attractive proposition for brands. The home screen sits upstream of the viewer’s choice of streaming service or content, before the viewer has even chosen what to watch, creating an ad opportunity before viewing even begins. The home screen is also a great way to reach the many viewers who spend lots of time with ad free/ SVOD services.
Brand marketers who are under pressure to deliver more with less should be looking at how these new formats can complement rather than compete with traditional in-stream CTV ads when content is temporarily paused or not yet playing.
From bespoke formats to scalable, programmatic inventory
Making these formats available programmatically changes their potential.
For advertisers, formats such as pause and home screen ads offer opportunities to engage audiences at different points in the viewing experience. For publishers and streaming platforms, they provide the opportunity to make previously under-monetised areas of the user experience part of a broader, scalable advertising strategy.
Pause ads and home screen ads can play a variety of different roles compared with a conventional video ad break. Advertisers can use this inventory strategically to reinforce a campaign, extend reach, or deliver a different creative experience. The opportunity is not simply to put more ads on screen, but to make better use of moments when viewers are receptive.
However, as these formats enter the wider programmatic ecosystem, factors such as standardisation, measurement and interoperability will also become increasingly important.
Balancing monetisation with the viewer experience
The key for publishers and streaming platforms is understanding how to monetise these surfaces without creating friction or ad fatigue. The long-term value of these new formats depends on them enhancing rather than disrupting the streaming experience
This means carefully considering frequency, creative quality, placement, and the overall user experience. As viewers become more accustomed to different forms of streaming and moving between platforms and content environments, advertising must fit naturally into that experience.
As CTV advertising evolves beyond the traditional pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll model, pause and home screen inventory have emerged as new addressable touchpoints for advertisers and additional ways for publishers to monetise the TV experience.
These formats are becoming more programmatic and measurable. The opportunity will be to integrate them thoughtfully into the wider CTV ecosystem rather than treat them as standalone innovations.
