The past year has been transformational for the media industry as viewers rapidly changed how and where they consume video, and for our company as we embarked on an exciting journey with the merger of JWP Connatix. Together, JWP Connatix creates the industry’s most comprehensive independent video technology and monetization platform for broadcasters, publishers, and advertisers.
As we look back on a groundbreaking year, we’re excited to explore the insights from our expanded data set and leverage them to adapt to evolving industry needs while maximizing revenue. To do so, we’re diving into proprietary insights from our contextual targeting solution, Deep Contextual™, and examining how publishers and advertisers can refine their strategies for 2025. Plus, we’re taking a closer look at the content that kept audiences streaming all year.
Lights, Camera, Action: Arts & Entertainment is the Top Performing Category
Top Performing Categories in 2024
- Arts & Entertainment
- Sports
- Politics
- Technology
- Weather
Over the past year, Arts & Entertainment emerged as the top-performing Deep Contextual category, capturing the highest share of ad impressions. From binge-worthy TV shows like True Detective, House of the Dragon, and The Penguin, to blockbuster movies like Deadpool & Wolverine and Dune: Part 2, and the exciting news surrounding these moments, like the Wicked press tour, entertainment content has dominated. The press tour engaged viewers through video and went viral, with fans creating memes of memorable moments and attracting others to join in on the excitement. Consumers love to experience the latest in entertainment news from publishers, and our contextual solutions ensure campaigns reach these relevant audiences at scale.
Sports took the silver in a tight race for top ad impressions this year. Major events like the 2024 Summer Olympics, the Euro Cup, and March Madness drove fans to engage with their favorite athletes and teams online like never before. From breakout stars like Caitlin Clark and ‘Pommel Horse Guy’ Steven Nedorosic to legends like Simone Biles and LeBron James, athletes dominated both our hearts and our screens.
It was also inspiring to witness the significant strides women made in sports this year. For the first time in history, half the athletes in the Olympics were female (bringing in more than half of Team USA’s medals), the interest in the WNBA and Women’s March Madness Tournament was the highest it’s ever been, and Super Bowl LVIII drew the most female viewers in Super Bowl history. As more women are streaming sports, new opportunities will open for marketers to get creative and engage these newfound sports fans.
It’s likely that in 2025 we will see more female-focused brand sponsors and more of a gender balance in ad campaigns during commercial breaks to better reflect the viewers of sporting events. Additionally, our streaming data revealed that sports consistently maintained a steady streaming rate throughout the year, meaning advertisers can confidently continue to invest in sports content year-round.
For advertisers, Deep Contextual targeting is like having a backstage pass to real-time content insights to maximize campaign reach. As trends evolve and consumer preferences change, our contextual solutions provide privacy-safe targeting, ensuring that ads align with what consumers are already watching.
By harnessing cutting-edge technologies like deep learning, computer vision, and natural language processing, Deep Contextual analyzes both page and video content, providing granular insights that help brands hit the right note with smarter, more effective targeting, all while increasing the time audiences spend on publisher sites.
Additionally, JWP Connatix’s predictive audience targeting solution combines proprietary behavioral interest signals with any audience data to build predictive models, enabling advertisers to reach high-intent audiences with precision and increase scale through ID-free contextual signals.
Through real-time contextual analysis using Connatix’s Deep Contextual, predictive audience targeting informs what categories, subcategories and keywords will capture audience attention based on their consumption patterns.
2024’s Gamechangers: The Brands Capturing Audience Attention
Top Performing Brands/Companies in 2024
- NFL
- Netflix
- AccuWeather
- NBA
- NASA
Our contextual insights identified over 19,000 unique brands and companies in 2024, and it’s no surprise that massive sports leagues like the NFL and NBA scored big. The NFL had a record-breaking year, as fans engaged with the action more than ever. The 2024 Super Bowl was the most watched NFL Championship in History, as over 123.4 million people tuned in across several platforms.
That momentum is carrying through the end of the year into 2025, with even more eyes on the NFL as Beyoncé is slated to perform at the NFL’s Christmas games, which will be live-streamed to an even broader audience through Netflix. With 51% of Netflix’s subscribers being women, her performance is likely a strategic move to tap into the rising female viewership of the NFL, as more women are tuning in to watch both the game and the halftime show.
Super Bowl LIX is shaping up to be a prime opportunity for advertisers and broadcasters. With JWP Connatix’s comprehensive video tech and monetization platform, we’re poised to help create game-winning campaigns that engage this growing audience.
Although sports dominated in targeted companies, other players still brought the thunder. AccuWeather took the third spot this year, and given the intense weather events in 2024, it makes perfect sense. From heatwaves and hurricanes to wildfires, tornadoes, and flooding, people were glued to weather updates, forecasts, and safety information.
Weather updates have become more than just a daily necessity—they are now a critical resource. This highlights the growing reliance on digital content, as audiences increasingly turn to weather news for real-time updates and essential information during extreme events.
Power Couples and Politics: The Faces that Shaped 2024
Top Famous Individuals
- Donald Trump
- Kamala Harris
- Joe Biden
- Taylor Swift
- Sean Combs
This year, our algorithms have been working overtime, identifying more than 42,000 distinct famous individuals across page and video content—but only a select few truly rose to the top. Among the usual heavy hitters, a few fresh faces made their mark in the Top 5.
While the world swooned over celebrity relationships, politics remained an unmissable force throughout the year. As the 2024 election unfolded, political figures made waves. Donald Trump topped the charts, with Kamala Harris and Joe Biden following closely behind in the second and third spots.
This year marked a record-breaking $10 billion in political ad spend, as campaigns adapted to an evolving media landscape. Digital channels, in particular, saw significant growth, with digital ad spend expected to reach $3.46 billion—156% more than in 2020—accounting for about 28.1% of total political ad spend. As voters increasingly turn to social media and connected TV (CTV) devices for their content, political campaigns follow their audience, shifting focus to meet them wherever they’re streaming.
Our data reveals that political content continues to drive engagement, underscoring the effectiveness of a cross-platform strategy that reaches viewers wherever they are. Contextual targeting can help extend the time viewers spend on the page by recommending content and ads relevant to the content they’re most interested in, improving the overall user experience and boosting ad recall.
Additionally, by leveraging our cutting-edge solution, Dynamic Strategy Rules, publishers can maximize the potential of every ad space, using advanced algorithms to optimize ad and content placements and capitalize on every viewer interaction.
With the new administration taking office, audiences will undoubtedly stay tuned for the latest updates. This is a prime opportunity for publishers to harness that momentum by delivering engaging and meaningful viewer experiences through video. Brands will find value in this as they look for partners who can help them break through the noise and tell their stories where consumers are paying attention.
What We’re Watching: The Biggest Trends of 2024
Most Streamed Categories
- Food & Drink
- Sports
- Television
- Movies
- News and Politics
Our audiences spent a staggering 1.4B+ hours and 854M+ gigabytes streaming our partners’ content this year, with a few standout categories. While Sports, Television, and Movies unsurprisingly made it to the top 5, the rise of Food & Drink as a leading category looks like a recipe for success for broadcasters and advertisers. Whether it’s mastering the art of deep-frying a turkey or indulging a craving, audiences couldn’t get enough of Food & Drink videos this year.
The consumer appetite for video is changing. As more consumers cut the cord in favor of CTV and streaming services, global advertising spend is rapidly shifting, and new direct-to-consumer subscription and pay-per-view models are emerging. With our combined strengths, JWP Connatix is uniquely positioned to provide exceptional service and quality across all platforms.
At JWP Connatix, we deliver the highest-quality broadcasts to global audiences at scale, tailored to meet viewers’ unique needs. Our efficient video delivery ensures a seamless experience across all devices, including OTT, OLV, and CTV. Whether viewers are searching for dinner party inspiration online or on their TV, we are poised to deliver a smooth, satisfying experience.
As audiences increasingly gravitate toward alternative content formats, our platform gives broadcasters the control they need to meet these demands with ease. By blending comprehensive data insights with premium streaming experiences, we offer the perfect recipe to keep audiences engaged, while helping publishers and broadcasters cook up, deliver, and monetize top-tier streaming video.
Looking Forward: JWP Connatix’s Vision for the Future of Digital Video
As JWP Connatix embarks on this new chapter, we’re excited to continue to deliver seamless viewing experiences across all screens, helping our customers connect with their audiences anytime, anywhere, while maximizing revenue. Thanks to our comprehensive data sets, innovative technology, and expert team, we’re poised to continuously enhance our platform, providing our customers with the tools and insights they need to maximize their revenue while delivering an excellent user experience for audiences.
JWP Connatix is now streaming, are you ready?
Contact us to learn more about what’s next!