The news: DirecTV and Glance will bring AI-powered ads to idle TV screens in 2026, per Digital Trends.

Instead of a screensaver, DirecTV’s streaming devices will display personalized AI content, opening doors for shoppable ads, travel ideas, news, and more.

During a demo at CES in January, a Glance user uploaded a photo and on-screen images showed an AI-generated image of him wearing a shoppable parka.

AI takeover: Marketers and platforms are rapidly integrating AI into connected TV (CTV) advertising.

• 60% of senior US marketers say they use generative AI (genAI) for content creation such as script-writing and visual assets, per a Teads CTV study.
• Last month, Roku opened its platform to thousands of advertisers to create genAI ads to make its ad stream more like social media and be less repetitive.

Aiming for the TV: CTV and streaming device advertising opportunities are also on the rise.

• Interest in interactive formats like QR codes and clickable ads is growing, and 41.8% of US marketers are already using those strategies on CTV.
• Pause ads are a key driver of CTV growth—63% of audiences prefer pause ads over frozen screens, according to Matt Van Houten of DirecTV.

Our take: Combining genAI with CTV advertising seems like a natural fit for a consumer tech medium, but there are potential speedbumps ahead. Roku’s brief introduction of autoplay ads before the homescreen on its devices was met with a lot of backlash. DirecTV could fall into the same hole with its idle-screen ads.

Personalization is key for those spots to succeed. Advertisers should focus on demographics and viewing context for placements. If the ads don’t feel relevant or include images that delve into uncanny valley, consumers could turn off the TV and leave the brand altogether.