AI-built home screen ads land on LG and TCL - and nonprofits get a seat at the table
Magnite just deployed AI-generated home screen ads across LG Ad Solutions and TCL. The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is the first to use streamr.ai to produce TV-ready creative that shows up before viewers pick what to watch.
This is the first time generative AI has produced commercial ads for smart TV home screens. It opens premium streaming inventory to brands that haven't had the budget, time, or teams for TV-level production.
Why marketers should care
- Home screens are high-attention surfaces. LG Ad Solutions reports viewers spend about 10 minutes browsing before selecting content.
- Scale is real: LG operates 200M Smart TVs worldwide (40M in the U.S.), with TCL adding significant reach.
- Programmatic access via Magnite's ClearLine means fewer handoffs and cleaner workflows.
- AI cuts the creative bottleneck so nonprofits and SMBs can finally compete on premium CTV inventory.
How the setup works
Magnite's streamr.ai generates multiple creative variations sized for TV environments and home screen placements. ClearLine then activates campaigns programmatically across partners like LG Ad Solutions and TCL.
The result: fewer production hurdles, faster time to market, and a direct path to placements that historically demanded big studio budgets.
Nonprofits finally break in
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption used streamr.ai to produce streaming-ready creative during the holiday season, when giving spikes. Andrea Thorn at Avalon Consulting put it plainly: "Having access to tools like streamr.ai allows us to create thoughtful, streaming-ready messages more efficiently."
She added, "Streaming provides a powerful opportunity to help people see the need for foster care adoption, but accessing that space has traditionally been difficult... With tools like streamr.ai, we're able to participate in these environments in a more accessible way."
Home screen dynamics and results
Nearly all LG Smart TV users-97 percent-hit the home screen, and they visit it three times per day on average. That's the front door to streaming and a prime moment for brand consideration.
Beyond awareness, people act. A Magnite-commissioned MRI-Simmons survey found one in three adults took action after seeing a home screen ad. Among LG channel viewers, 26 percent searched for the product-2.5x the U.S. average.
Consumer utility for home screen ads is up 105% year over year, with more than a quarter of CTV viewers describing them as helpful. The format aligns with intent: show up while viewers are deciding what to watch, not mid-stream when they're trying to avoid interruptions.
Platform leaders back the format
Jeremy Straight, Global VP at TCL Ads: "By supporting AI-enhanced creative through Magnite, TCL is able to differentiate our platform with experiences that feel more dynamic and it opens up premium advertising opportunities to millions of brands."
Kelly McMahon, EVP at LG Ad Solutions: "The home screen is already recognized as one of the most valuable moments in streaming… accessing home screen inventory through programmatic endpoints makes these premium placements available to a wider spectrum of advertisers."
Industry context: AI creative goes mainstream
Across 2025, major players shipped AI creative tools. Google launched Asset Studio in September using Imagen 4 (image) and Veo (video). Amazon's AI Creative Studio rolled out earlier and reported a 5 percent average sales lift from its Image Generator.
The IAB reported that 86 percent of buyers use or plan to use generative AI for video creation, with AI-driven creative expected to account for 40 percent of ads by 2026. CTV share of budgets jumped from 14 percent (2023) to 28 percent (2025), with spend projected to hit $46.9B by 2028, surpassing linear TV.
Standardization is catching up
IAB Tech Lab published specs for six CTV formats, including menu ads that appear on home screens. The guidelines cover creative types, aspect ratios, file requirements, audio, placement, interactivity, and durations. Public comment runs through January 31, 2026.
Baseline technicals matter: 1920×1080 and 16:9 remain the go-to for fullscreen TV executions. Consistency here reduces production waste and makes AI pipelines more reliable.
IAB Tech Lab: Proposed CTV creative technical guidelines
Attention and performance measurement
Attention studies back the format. Teads reported CTV home screen units hit 48 percent attention rates, outperforming YouTube skippable pre-roll by 16 points. 3D home screen creatives captured attention 29 percent faster and sustained it longer.
Brand recall was strong: unaided at 50 percent, aided up to 84 percent. Kargo's CTV work showed 78 percent higher attention vs. industry norms; 15-second spots delivered 50 percent higher eye-on-screen, 30-second spots hit 74 percent higher.
Measurement is advancing, too. Teads launched deterministic CTV measurement tying exposure to site visits, leads, and sales. LG Ad Solutions partnered with Taboola to attribute down-funnel conversions back to TV exposure across premium publishers. The IAB notes measurement and attribution remain top challenges, but two-thirds of advertisers improved ROAS after adopting Conversion APIs.
Creative production: the blocker AI removes
Most marketers repurpose assets. Research shows 72 percent reuse or lightly edit creative, and only 25 percent tailor for both social and CTV. TV specs and quality bars make that risky.
AI-generated creative changes the math. Streamr.ai lets teams produce TV-quality variations fast, test messaging at scale, and stay within spec without spinning up a full production crew.
What to do next: a simple CTV home screen playbook
- Strategy: Map home screen to intent. Treat it like a storefront: clear offer, clean layout, and a single action (QR, short URL, or app open).
- Creative: Build for 1920×1080. Big typography, high-contrast visuals, short copy, and a visible CTA. Produce 5-10 AI variations for testing.
- Activation: Use ClearLine or your DSP to access LG/TCL. Apply frequency caps, daypart to peak browsing windows, and align to seasonal spikes.
- Measurement: Add QR codes and vanity URLs. Pass Conversion API events. Run holdouts or geo splits to read lift and validate incrementality.
- Nonprofits/SMBs: Start small. Swap creatives weekly, lean into human-centered visuals, and tie campaigns to high-intent periods (holidays, cultural moments).
Commercial upside beyond nonprofits
Small and mid-sized brands can now enter CTV without six-figure production costs. The tech supports one-off flights or thousands of dynamic variants, while keeping visual quality consistent across formats.
As buyers shift more video budgets to performance, home screen placements help TVs act like storefronts. Intent, message, and action now live in the same session.
Timeline
- Dec 10, 2024: LG Ad Solutions and Magnite expand collaboration
- Apr 23, 2025: Magnite merges SpringServe ad server with SSP capabilities
- Jul 9, 2025: Smart TV home screen ads show 73% growth in helping holiday decisions
- Jul 14, 2025: LG Ad Solutions opens Australia office
- Sep 9, 2025: Magnite acquires streamr.ai
- Sep 10, 2025: Google launches Asset Studio
- Sep 25, 2025: Teads reports 48% attention rate for CTV home screen
- Oct 1, 2025: Magnite announces ClearLine evolution
- Oct 23, 2025: Teads launches deterministic CTV measurement
- Nov 2, 2025: LG Ad Solutions introduces Agentiv AI platform
- Nov 18, 2025: Magnite debuts Live Scheduler for live events
- Nov 19, 2025: LG Ad Solutions reports 60% growth in home screen placements
- Dec 11, 2025: IAB Tech Lab releases CTV format standards for comment
- Dec 17, 2025: Magnite deploys first AI-generated home screen ads on LG and TCL
What's next
Magnite plans to extend AI creative beyond home screens into immersive layouts, companion formats, pause ads, overlays, squeezebacks, and screensavers. Expect unified workflows that produce and traffic variants across every CTV surface without extra steps.
For teams, the move is clear: build a repeatable system for CTV creative generation, versioning, and measurement. Treat TV like a performance channel and a brand canvas at the same time.
Resources
- IAB Tech Lab: Proposed CTV creative technical guidelines
- Nielsen: Streaming tops broadcast and cable (May 2025)
- Practical AI training for marketing teams
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