The European Programmatic TV Initiative (EPTVI) has launched Stage Two of its cross-industry programme, shifting from alignment work into practical guidance designed to make programmatic TV easier to execute at scale across Europe’s major TV advertising markets.
Programmatic TV is the automated buying and selling of TV advertising using data and software platforms rather than manual negotiations and insertion orders, applying digital-style ad tech to television.
The group says buyers and sellers are still dealing with fragmented definitions, measurement approaches and operational workflows, driving up cost and slowing adoption even as premium broadcaster and streamer inventory becomes increasingly available.
Stage Two will be overseen by a Joint Industry Steering Committee, bringing together broadcasters, streamers, agencies, trade bodies and ad tech participants including Google Ad Manager, Equativ, Adform, LiveRamp, The Trade Desk, FreeWheel and Cape.io.
The work is structured around three deliverables: North Star Principles, setting shared reference points for interoperability, measurement, transparency and workflows; Reusable Core Components, including templates and conventions for metadata, measurement, reporting and interoperability and a Premium Programmatic Partner (3Ps) Programme, intended to create a clearer industry framework for trading premium programmatic TV.
EPTVI will run three working groups covering Definitions and Measurement, Technical and Operational Foundations, and the 3Ps Programme. The initiative will also host a series of virtual town halls from 25 February 2026 to share progress and invite wider industry input.
EPTVI is backed by a coalition of ad tech and market participants and is supported by The Project X Initiative, which previously published a Stage One roadmap focused on reducing fragmentation across the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
