Adam Royle | Head of Strategic Partnerships, Universal Ads (Comcast)

The TV Ad Tech Career: Adam learned local television at a large agency, pivoted to digital at Digitas right when programmatic was starting, and then spent years at venture-backed startups like Auditude (acquired by Adobe). He grew up with CTV and ad tech before most of the industry was paying attention. 📺

Seven Years at Roku: Adam landed at Roku at the beginning of 2018, right when the company went public. He spent seven years growing up as a leader and an employee with the business, building the partnerships and infrastructure that helped Roku scale. 📈

Universal Ads and the Self-Service Shift: Comcast announced it's making linear television inventory self-service through the Universal Ads platform, alongside streaming inventory. Same targeting, same buying, same measurement. For advertisers who've never been able to access TV, the barrier to entry is coming down. 🔓

The Torso Opportunity: TV advertising has always worked for Fortune 100 brands and hyperlocal businesses. The massive middle has been locked out. Universal Ads is focused on expanding the television category to reach the advertisers who've previously been untapped. 🎯

Cart Before the Horse: Adam has seen a lot of trends come and go in 20 years of television. His observation: the industry talks and visions things in circles before the execution is really in play. The visions do eventually come true, but the gap between talk and impact is real. 💡

The Best Advice He Got Too Late: Take your job very seriously, but don't take yourself very seriously. Adam wishes he'd heard that on day one instead of years into his career. 🎯