By Natasha Lee
As competition across streaming and broadcast continues to intensify, Paramount Australia is sharpening its focus on unified video buying, CTV distribution, attention-based measurement and homegrown content in its 2026 roadmap.
The network has spent the past year building Paramount Connect 2.0 – a simplification play designed to collapse workflows and sharpen commercial impact across 10 and Paramount+.
Chief sales officer Rod Prosser said the mission has been to remove friction and meet agencies where the market is heading.
“We really understand it isn’t one-size-fits-all. You’re not going to go through one front door to access our inventory and shows, so we had to build out Connect,” Prosser told Mediaweek.
“We’ve spent 12 months building the model, trialling and testing – now it’s fully stood up, which is the exciting part.”
At the core sits Paramount Connect Streaming, with unified proposals, single-transaction execution, and a roadmap to Paramount Connect Total Video – a single window for cross-screen trading once linear joins the stack.
“TV buying has traditionally been onerous,” Prosser said. “We wanted to build an ad-tech stack that takes the friction out, reduces time spent on buying and lets us pick up the heavy lifting. It’s purpose-built to plug into systems – and if we need to sit alongside other media or B2B platforms later, we can.”
Paramount also expanded its CTV footprint, securing exclusive ad sales for LG Channels – giving access to more than 130 FAST streams and tapping into a rapidly growing smart-TV audience.
“FAST delivers valuable audiences, especially under-40s,” Prosser said.
“This rounds out our LG partnership – distribution, prominence on screens, linear IP feeds to TV sets, and now ads.”
With LG’s ACR data and Adelaide attention scoring now flowing into Paramount’s stack, he argues the proposition is sharper: “It sits outside standard measurement and lets us understand the impact of premium environments on viewer intention. Combined with our existing partners, it’s a powerful ROI framework.”
Paramount’s ad-innovation unit continues to push real-time formats.
The network completes its contextual suite this quarter with Own the Moment and contextual ads in Big Brother, after Pause-to-Shop in MasterChef exceeded global interaction benchmarks.
“Contextual identifies moments and scenes – products, emotions, birthdays – and ads can be delivered seamlessly around them,” Prosser said. “AI can even pick up emotional tone. There’s real appetite for new formats.”
And it’s already got the tick of approval from the brands.
Ryan Ambrose, PHD Head of Partnerships Melbourne, said: “Through Paramount’s Contextual Ads McCain’s Pickers can show up in the exact right moments of the show, matching the tone, humour, and spontaneity that the brand is known for. It’s a clever and natural fit that enhances both the content and the viewer experience.”
KERV.ai powers the scene-level smarts, with FreeWheel enabling delivery.
“We’ve pioneered ad innovation among broadcasters,” he added. “Because it’s tech-based, it’s fast. When an advertiser wants on, we move quickly.”
The addition of Adelaide’s AU attention score further shifts Paramount’s video narrative toward performance and real-world outcomes.
“Attention has become critical,” Prosser said. “It’s accountability – and it’s where premium streaming wins.”
On screen, Paramount+ is balancing home-grown drama, international franchises and live sport. VP of content Tamara Simoneau said the strategy reflects audience breadth and cultural impact.
“Australia has a love affair with sport – any sport we can get our hands on,” she said.
“The F1 rolling into the Matildas’ Asian Cup matches – it’ll be an epic day on TV. No one will be watching anything else.”
Dalliance and Two Years Later lead the 2026 local slate, alongside returning Last King of the Cross, Ghosts Australia and NCIS: Sydney.
Reality continues to anchor primetime, with Survivor refreshed under new host David Genat and Big Brother returning to Dreamworld with a back-to-basics experience.
“We always try to reach a family audience,” Simoneau said. “Survivor is fun family viewing – a bit scary, a bit weird – kids love it. And Big Brother is going back to the OG: live stream, live evictions, modern house.”
The mix of nostalgia, premium drama and event sport is deliberate. “Event-based sport brings in ad dollars; the return makes sense,” she said.
“And we also need premium drama with international potential. It’s a balance – prestige, family, fandom and community.”
Read the article on Variety Australia.