New York - Samsung Ads made its NewFronts presentation Tuesday, where the electronics giant division showcased its bet that the future of connected TV is a more interactive experience for viewers and a more full-funnel marketing vehicle for advertisers.
During the annual pitch for ad buyers, Samsung highlighted its latest in support of those bets, disclosing a series of integrations, data and AI-powered capabilities and content coming to its smart TV platform and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service Samsung TV Plus – including with the Amazon Ads DSP.
Samsung is one of several in the CTV sphere that has already started leaning into interactivity and shoppable formats (like with its proprietary GameBreaks first announced at the 2024 NewFront and expanded last year).
Now it’s making moves to expand capabilities and measurement for advertisers, including delivering on that bottom stage of conversion via CTV by bringing Amazon Ads’ Interactive Video Ad (IVA) technology directly to Samsung TV Plus.
Other TVOS players like Roku have already tapped the Amazon DSP for CTV ad partnerships, but Samsung marks first external platform partner able to integrate the DSP’s remote-enabled interactive shoppable video ad tech.
Launching in July, the integration means Samsung advertisers will be able to offer remote-control-clickable CTV ad formats, like those already available on Prime Video.
For advertisers that sell on Amazon’s e-commerce marketplace, shoppable ad units on STVP include a direct, clickable “Add to Cart” functionality on the TV screen that put products right in a viewer’s Prime Shopping cart where they can complete purchases. For brands that aren’t sellers on Amazon, formats will feature outcome-focused action buttons with options like “Send to Phone” and “Signup today” to continue the engagement.
In addition to ease for users and clear attribution for brands of CTV ads to product sales, it also means advertisers can tap into Amazon’s authenticated audience graph that provides deterministic reach to over 90% of U.S. households and its vast trove of trillions of shopping, browsing and viewing signals.
That’s paired with Samsung’s audience scale (with 100 million monthly active users on STVP) and viewing data to better target consumers on the Samsung TV Plus built-in free streaming platform.
“Our shoppable ad formats are proven to drive measurable performance on and off Amazon through our differentiated combination of broad reach and authenticated signals,” said Kelly MacLean, VP of Engineering, Science and Product for Amazon DSP, in a statement. “By bringing Amazon’s interactive ad technology to Samsung through Amazon DSP, together we’re providing an experience for advertisers to deliver on any full-funnel marketing objective – whether it’s awareness, consideration, or conversion.”
Outcomes across the funnel
Further signaling Samsung’s focus on interactivity and expansion of the ad offerings, the company named Creative Canvas as a new partner to help brands easily update their creatives for CTV and prepare them for new formats.
New ad capabilities include product galleries, vertical video shoppable and click to email formats.
Formats that drive action or engagement by consumers help CTV platforms like Samsung show a clearer line for advertisers from their CTV investments and audience exposures to desired brand outcomes or results.
According to Samsung interactive ads on its platform drive 17% more engagement compared to other CTV ad environments. (For more on interactive CTV ads broadly, see our Special Report on the topic here.)
And better proving to advertisers the brand impact from CTV ads and their influence on consumer decisions is somethings several CTV platforms appear keen to do as they look to attract ad spend and give CTV credit that otherwise may go to the last-click touchpoints before purchase (like Google) - even if it was TV that sparked or drove the initial consumer interest.
Of course not all brands are looking to drive bottom-funnel metrics like conversions or sales directly from ad spots - where CTV is still a vehicle for brand building and awareness.
But Samsung worked to drive home the message that its platform can support and deliver measurable results across the range of goals various advertisers might have.
To that end, delivering on brand results or “outcomes” across the funnel with actionable and verifiable insights and measurement was a key theme in the company’s pitch to ad buyers. It’s one that CTV at large appears to be courting but where Samsung touted its large device ecosystem and more affluent audience base among factors that should make the streaming platform desirable to brands. And positioned its smart TV platform as destination that not only supports but can drive upper funnel awareness, mid-funnel consideration and intent, and bottom funnel conversion and sales - particularly now with the Amazon Ads shoppable video ad tech and DSP integration.
“With this partnership, Samsung TV Plus becomes a fully shoppable platform and it makes it possible not only to reach precise audiences at scale, but also to drive measurable outcomes directly from the TV,” said Courtney Howell, head of agency development at Samsung Ads, on stage.
Interactive viewer experiences
A more interactive CTV future on Samsung doesn’t just mean ad formats.
The platform plans to double down on creator content and live events programming on its FAST service that bring interactive components – as well as brands - into the mix.
Some early efforts have already delivered. For example, an exclusive live Jonas Brothers event in 2025 featured its first-ever interactive FanVote poll and drove 26x engagement compared to QR code-based interactions.
Looking ahead, it disclosed an upcoming live, global 2-hour event special with former NASA engineer and creator Mark Rober (who Samsung tapped last year to launch exclusive creator-focused Mark Rober TV channels). The event will allow for interaction from the audience as they join Rober in real-time for a scientific mission exploring a yet-to-be-disclosed location.
Samsung’s also leaning into live content as the exclusive partner of MotoAmerica, with plans for over 100 live races coming to the FAST service.
And interactivity and engagement features are getting embedded across the entire Samsung TV Plus service and content more broadly in 2026, including with partners A+E Global Media, AMC Networks, LiveNOW from Fox, MotoAmerica, TelevisaUnivision, and Vevo.
Demos images on-screen during the presentation showed some examples like interactive poll overlays or trivia that aligns with shows and content viewers are watching. .
“Live, interactive experiences and creator-led content have become the new engine of TV, bringing authenticity, community, and cultural connection directly into the living room,” commented Salek Brodsky, SVP and Global Head of Samsung TV Plus, in a statement. “As Samsung TV Plus looks to the future, our intention is to create meaningful moments that break through. By delivering can’t-miss TV that drives appointment viewing, we’ll provide a powerful pathway for brands to connect with deeply engaged audiences.”
Article headline updated to change wording from "shoppable to "interactive" to better reflect the broader nature of Amazon's video ad tech integrated by Samsung.