As the media industry becomes increasingly fragmented, global broadcasters are looking to ad tech solutions to simplify workflows across linear and digital and help them achieve sustainable profitability.
Technology now underpins almost every part of the advertising business from yield optimization to SSAI delivery to cross-platform measurement. And the conversation around ad tech often centers on what’s new — new platforms, new data models, new automation, new promises.
Innovation is always a key driver in technology decisions. But when you talk to the people who actually rely on these systems every day, the conversation is far more grounded. The fundamentals still matter most. Reliability. Stability. Responsiveness.
So, this is where we have focused our efforts in recent years. We’ve dedicated a great deal of time and attention to understanding what our customers need the most, in terms of stability for their current systems and the innovation required for the future of their business. Trying to find that practical balance between now and next, to ensure that Imagine and all our customers are moving forward as partners with a shared vision and a shared path to success.
Finding the right partnership can be the difference between sustained success and costly disruption.
Seeing what really matters
Over the past decade, we’ve seen ad tech platforms enter the market with tremendous ambition. Many aimed to be transformational — rearchitecting core workflows, automating end-to-end processes, redefining how inventory is monetized. Too frequently, these next-generation systems arrived over-engineered, under-tested, and misaligned with real operational needs.
Early adopters found themselves wrestling with platforms that were technically immature, unintuitive, or unreliable. Compounding the issue, many vendors lacked experienced teams who understood the realities of broadcast and CTV operations. Customers were effectively paying for the privilege of co-developing unfinished products.
At the same time, significant industry consolidation over the last few years has created companies responsible for multiple overlapping platforms and partially integrated acquisitions. Vendors are effectively put in the position of choosing between investing in new platforms or taking care of customers on legacy solutions.
When I look at Imagine’s own performance, I know that we’ve been on both sides of this situation. Older platforms that needed modernization to meet emerging demand and newer products that still require maturation and real-world proof points.
Against this backdrop, broadcasters have become increasingly cautious. They’ve experienced firsthand what happens when a vendor overpromises, underdelivers, or fails to keep pace with the market. And in an environment where monetization is mission-critical, caution becomes a form of self-protection.
This is why trust — not just technology — has become the defining requirement heading into 2026.
What doing things differently looks like
The lessons from industry missteps are not lost on us. In fact, they’ve shaped how we operate.
We’ve taken a hard look at our own past performance. We’ve listened to our customers and taken the time to understand what they actually need and how they measure success. And we’ve used those insights to reshape our culture so that everything we do is aligned with delivering it.
Here’s what that looks like:
1. We rely on actual industry experts.
Our teams are built around people who have lived the challenges our customers face. Traffic directors. Ops managers. Sales and inventory veterans. When customers call, they reach someone who “gets it.”
2. Practicality and repeatability guide our product decisions.
Elegant solutions don’t have to be complicated. We’re focused on product transformation to stay ahead of the market, but also on ensuring our technology is intuitive and consistent. No reinvention for reinvention’s sake — just tools that work the same way every day.
3. We don’t just design solutions; we operationalize them.
It’s easy to architect ideas on paper. It’s harder to put them into the real world at scale. We’ve done the latter, and our best practices today are the result of solutions that have been proven — not just proposed.
4. We are transparent about what’s working and where we still need to improve.
Customers have full visibility into our progress. We publish metrics. We share what we’ve learned. We acknowledge gaps quickly so we can address them even faster.
5. Continuous improvement isn’t a tagline — it’s a discipline.
We’ve faced our share of challenges, just like any provider. But every lesson learned has pushed us to sharpen our processes. And every success has reinforced what customers value most: dependability.
The metric that matters
Customer satisfaction data increasingly tells the real story. Not what companies claim they can do, but what their actual customers say about working with them through the challenges and changes that define this industry.
The Devoncroft Big Broadcast Survey (BBS) has been reporting this type of data for nearly two decades. It’s the largest, annual study of broadcast and digital media end-users, providing detailed insight into how media technology suppliers and products are perceived by technology buyers, along with comprehensive benchmarking of media technology vendors on a wide variety of metrics.
In the 2025 BBS report, our company ranked #1 in every evaluation category within Broadcast Management Systems among customers who actually use our products. These survey participants rated Imagine highest over every other vendor across a range of key metrics: Customer Service, Innovation, Quality, Reliability, Value for Money, Stability, Vision for the Future, and Ease of Working With.
The BBS results validate the work we’ve put into strengthening our culture and our products, but they also reflect something bigger happening across the industry. Broadcasters are increasingly looking for partners who not only innovate, but consistently show up with the reliability, clarity, and accountability their businesses depend on.
That’s why the choice of ad tech partner matters more than ever. As audiences fragment and revenue models evolve, broadcasters need vendors who make their jobs easier — not harder — and who stand beside them when challenges arise. Because when your revenue is on the line, trust is not a luxury. It is a strategic necessity.
In Devoncroft’s 2025 BBS report
Broadcast Management Systems category, customers ranked Imagine #1 in
- Customer Service
- Innovation
- Quality
- Reliability
- Value for Money
- Stability
- Vision for the Future
- Ease of Working With
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