The news: Sports-first streaming service FuboTV announced Thursday that it will become the first connected TV (CTV) platform to make pause ads available in a programmatic biddable environment, aided by Magnite’s ad tech company ClearLine.

• Fubo stated that CTV pause ads drive 33% higher brand engagement compared with standard video ads, according to internal data.
• The pause ads can also be equipped with QR codes, per the announcement.

Fubo initially launched pause ads, which appear when a viewer pauses streaming content and disappear when the content resumes playing, last year as part of an interactive CTV ad units suite.

The pause ads potential: Pause ads are gaining popularity for their ability to engage viewers during key, attentive moments—and while Fubo is the first to introduce biddable pause ads, other streamers have already seen success with the standard format.