In this episode of Inside Content, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Matthew Henick, who leads the Ventura TV operating system team at The Trade Desk. With a background spanning Meta, Epic Games, and BuzzFeed, Matthew brings a rich perspective on the intersection of technology, entertainment, and commerce.
Matthew kicked things off by explaining the core mission ofThe Trade Desk: representing advertisers and agencies on the open internet, ensuring their dollars are spent transparently and efficiently. As CTV has grown, so too have the challenges—opaque supply chains, fragmented ad delivery paths, and rising distrust between platforms and content providers.“Transparency in many ways is the whole ball game on the internet,” Matthew noted, stressing how essential it is for building a sustainable and fair ecosystem.
What really stood out in our conversation was how The Trade Desk is tackling these issues head-on through Ventura, their ambitious TV operating system. It's a modular, customisable platform designed to empower manufacturers, retailers, and publishers alike, without locking them into the traditional compromises of legacy systems. As Matthew put it, “If you're a publisher, you're not getting a fair shake from your OS, because it has every reason to keep the jump ball in-house.”
One of the most exciting developments is Ventura’s new partnership with DirecTV. Rather than enforcing a rigid interface, The Trade Desk is supporting DirecTV’s already successful UI by handling the backend and monetisation layers. It’s a model that demonstrates Ventura’s collaborative ethos and long-term vision.
Matthew didn’t shy away from acknowledging the challenges—especially the "depth of mistrust in the ecosystem"—but he remains optimistic. “We’re incredibly optimistic about what the open internet can and should look like,” he said. The Trade Desk hopes to make transparency the norm, not the exception, and ultimately transform the experience for everyone, from advertisers and content creators to the viewers at home.
Key Topics:
· The role of The Trade Desk in CTV and ad tech
· Fragmentation and inefficiency in the current CTV ad supply chain
· Ventura OS: A modular, transparent, and partner-friendly operating system
· Strategic partnership with DirecTV and why it matters
· The need for transparency across the CTV ecosystem
· Future vision for Ventura and the open internet
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