Simulmedia

Unified CTV and linear TV advertising platform with patented AI/ML optimization and direct access to 250+ networks

Simulmedia has operated at the intersection of TV and data science since its founding in New York in 2008 — more than a decade before “CTV advertising” became a mainstream budget line. Its flagship TV+® platform is purpose-built to plan, activate, and measure campaigns across both linear television and connected TV (CTV) as a single, unified buy. Where most DSPs treat CTV as an extension of display, Simulmedia treats it as television — with the measurement rigor, network relationships, and optimization depth that TV-first advertisers require. Independent studies show that Simulmedia campaigns deliver 30–100% higher ROI than conventionally planned and targeted TV efforts.

How TV+ Unifies Linear TV and CTV

The core proposition of TV+® is convergence: the platform eliminates the organizational and technical split between traditional TV buying and programmatic CTV. Rather than running parallel campaigns across separate systems, TV+ plans reach and frequency holistically across both environments, then activates against a single unified audience.

Why This Distinction Matters

More than 60 million U.S. households regularly watch both linear and streaming content. When linear and CTV campaigns are managed separately — as they typically are in siloed buying setups — brands routinely over-serve the same households while missing others entirely. TV+ was built specifically to solve this duplication problem. Its cross-network frequency capping works across programmers, channels, distributors, and devices simultaneously — a capability Simulmedia describes as industry-unique for the scope of inventory it covers.

Linear TV Access

Simulmedia has spent 15+ years building direct integrations with broadcast and cable networks. Those relationships now span 250+ networks, covering major broadcast affiliates, national cable properties, and regional inventory. Clients can plan against specific programs, dayparts, or audience concentrations — or let the platform’s ML engine select the optimal mix. Campaigns can go live in days rather than the weeks-to-months timeline typical of traditional TV buys.

CTV Access

On the streaming side, TV+® integrates with major ad-supported streaming platforms — including Hulu, Peacock, MAX, Disney+, Roku, and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels — alongside original equipment manufacturer (OEM) environments. Research from Simulmedia’s own incremental lift studies found that free ad-supported and OEM streaming environments deliver the highest incremental lift for exposed audiences. The platform’s audience graph and cross-platform data continuously optimize which streaming environments maximize unique reach relative to the linear plan.

Patented AI/ML Technology: How TV+ Optimization Works

Simulmedia’s AI/ML capabilities are backed by multiple U.S. patents — a meaningful distinction in a landscape where “AI-powered” is often applied loosely.

The Core Patent: Predictive Audience Optimization

Simulmedia’s foundational patent solves the combinatorial problem of selecting media across inventory with similar or disparate audiences. The platform uses historical viewing patterns from its audience dataset — built on the Nielsen national universe of programming — to predict the probability that every individual target audience member will watch each available inventory unit. It then forecasts this forward using machine learning to project future viewing behavior by program and network.

Given a brand’s budget constraints, the platform calculates all feasible inventory combinations and selects the media plan that maximizes cost-efficient audience reach. This combinatorial optimization — across an inventory set where the possible combinations exceed the number of atoms in the known universe, by Simulmedia’s own description — is run iteratively, allowing planners to evaluate and adjust while observing real-time impact on campaign goals.

Automated Performance Optimization (APO)

In 2023, Simulmedia released its Automated Performance Optimization (APO) feature for TV+, extending the platform’s optimization beyond reach and frequency into mid- and lower-funnel performance metrics. APO is designed specifically for CTV and works as follows:

• Advertisers install the Simulmedia Pixel on their website or app to feed conversion data into the platform
• APO’s ML engine analyzes web traffic and conversion patterns to identify high-performing publishers and dayparts
• Budget is automatically reallocated toward placements driving the best outcome against the chosen KPI — whether that is website visits, app downloads, or purchases
• The engine provides transparent, auditable decision logs so buyers can monitor budget moves, identify top performers, and extract insights for stakeholder reporting

Unlike black-box optimization algorithms, APO surfaces its reasoning. Buyers can track lift, course-correct, and derive learning from the engine’s decisions rather than accepting reallocation as an opaque output.

Real-Time Cross-Channel Optimization

Beyond APO, TV+‘s ongoing optimization engine continuously analyzes campaign performance and adjusts flighting, audience delivery, and spend allocation in real time across all relevant networks and devices. The platform identifies high-propensity audience segments and reallocates toward placements where those audiences are both watching and taking action — not just watching.

Skybeam: Self-Serve TV Advertising for Every Budget

Launched in November 2024, Skybeam is Simulmedia’s self-serve TV advertising platform. It is designed for digital marketers, small businesses, local advertisers, and agencies that want access to TV inventory without the minimum spend thresholds or setup complexity of the full managed TV+ service.

What Skybeam Offers

• 250+ targeting options: Demographics, interests, behavioral attributes, and geographic targeting down to specific zip codes and metro areas
• National and local reach: Skybeam supports both national campaigns and local/DMA-level targeting — a significant expansion of who can access TV inventory
• TV Impact Forecaster: Pre-campaign simulation tool that predicts outcomes, models budget scenarios, and lets advertisers test strategies before committing spend
• Real-time reporting: Impressions, ROAS, site visits, conversions, and other KPIs tracked in near-real time
• Traditional TV (November 2025): Skybeam expanded beyond CTV in November 2025 to include traditional broadcast and cable network advertising in the same self-serve interface, making it the first self-serve platform to unify streaming and traditional TV in one workflow

The UX is intentionally modeled after search and social ad platforms. Advertisers who are comfortable with Google Ads or Meta Ads can set up and launch a TV campaign using familiar workflows — pick markets, set schedule and budget, upload creative.

Who Skybeam Is For

Skybeam targets small and mid-sized businesses, local franchises, and agencies that have historically been priced out of TV. CEO Dave Morgan’s stated rationale for the November 2025 traditional TV launch: “For years, access to traditional TV advertising was limited to large brands with big budgets and specialized teams. With Skybeam, we’re opening that world to everyone.”

Data Capabilities and Targeting

Simulmedia’s targeting infrastructure extends beyond demographic reach. The TV+ audience graph combines first-party and third-party data sources to build household-level audience segments that can be matched against TV viewing behavior.

First-Party Data Onboarding

Brands can onboard their own customer data — CRM lists, site visitor audiences, purchase data — and use the TV+ platform to identify which TV viewing environments those customers are most likely to inhabit. This enables suppression (avoiding wasted impressions against existing customers), lookalike modeling, and retargeting-adjacent TV strategies.

Third-Party Data Partnerships

Simulmedia has built targeted data partnerships to extend its reach into specialized verticals:

• M3 MI Partnership (September 2024): Integration with M3 MI’s consent-based, self-reported healthcare data enables pharma marketers to target patient and caregiver audiences across streaming TV with privacy-safe, propensity-modeled segments
• OptimizeRx Partnership (June 2025, announced at Cannes Lions): Brings OptimizeRx’s Micro-Neighborhood® Targeting (MNT) technology — used by OptimizeRx to synchronize messaging with 240 million adults — into Simulmedia’s linear and CTV inventory. Healthcare brands can now activate compliance-grade, clinically precise audience segments across all 250+ networks and streaming platforms in a single buy, with real-time campaign adjustments and HIPAA-compliant targeting

MRI-Based Predictive Modeling

For non-healthcare verticals, Simulmedia uses MRI survey attributes to forecast TV viewing habits for defined audience segments — enabling custom audience targeting that goes beyond standard demographics to model which networks and programs will yield the highest concentration of target viewers.

Measurement and Attribution

TV+ includes a full-funnel measurement suite. Attribution connects TV ad exposure to downstream actions at the household level, using deterministic matching where possible.

Incremental Lift Measurement

Simulmedia’s TV+ Incremental Lift solution uses deterministic household-level attribution with synthetic control groups to isolate the true causal effect of TV exposure on conversions. In one documented case study — a $600K cross-channel campaign for a national service brand — the methodology found:

• 101.8% lift in conversions for CTV-exposed audiences vs. control group (exposed audiences were more than twice as likely to convert)
• 46.6 million total reach across linear and CTV
• Free ad-supported and OEM streaming environments delivered the highest incremental lift

Cross-Network Reach Verification

TV+ reports on verified unique reach and frequency across all networks in the buy — not by aggregating network-reported data, but through the platform’s own audience graph, which tracks household-level exposure regardless of which network or device delivered the impression. This prevents the double-counting of reach that is common when linear and CTV campaigns are reported separately.

Post-Campaign Analysis

After campaigns conclude, TV+ provides publisher-level performance attribution — identifying which networks and dayparts drove the best outcomes — enabling advertisers to refine future plans based on actual performance rather than audience estimates.

Case Studies and Performance Metrics

OTC Brand: Q4 Cold Season (2024)

A leading OTC brand ran a cross-channel linear TV and CTV campaign through Simulmedia during Q4 2024, targeting audiences across 100+ networks and CTV publishers with custom MRI-based audience segments matched to IRI purchase data.

Results:

• 90 million unique individuals reached (28% of P2+ audience)
• 274% incremental lift in web traffic
• 13% boost in profit ROI (per Keen Agency media mix modeling — described as “the strongest TV performance ever recorded in Keen’s media mix modeling”)

Financial Services Brand: Incremental CTV Reach

A leading financial services company used Simulmedia to extend reach into CTV audiences not reachable through its existing linear plan.

Result: 86% of the CTV campaign audience was reached exclusively on CTV — incremental to the linear buy — demonstrating the deduplication value of the TV+ unified planning approach.

E-Commerce Brand: ROAS Improvement

A quarter using Simulmedia on the media plan vs. a comparable quarter without it:

• 38% lower Cost per Thousand Reached
• 11% higher Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
• 55% more efficient at driving incremental site visitors
• 13% more efficient at driving incremental purchasers

Pricing

Simulmedia does not publish specific rate cards. Pricing operates on two tiers:

Skybeam (Self-Serve)

• Free TV+ planning insights; no minimum to access planning tools
• Campaign costs are based on actual media spend — no platform fee published; contact Simulmedia for current CPM rates
• CTV CPMs industry-wide range from approximately $5–$30 depending on inventory type and targeting; premium AVOD/PMP CTV inventory typically runs $15–$30 CPM

TV+ Managed Service (Enterprise)

• Enterprise pricing; minimum spend requirements apply
• Exact minimums not publicly disclosed; user reviews indicate the minimum can be “a bit discouraging for some” but is considered worthwhile for those who meet it
• Pricing negotiated based on campaign scope, network mix, and audience specifications
• Contact: advertise@simulmedia.com or request a demo at simulmedia.com

The platform’s model is performance-guaranteed: Simulmedia guarantees campaign outcomes on reach, custom targeting, or ROI — an unusual commitment in the TV advertising market.

User Reviews

Simulmedia holds a 5.0/5 rating on G2 based on verified reviews. Review volume is limited relative to general-purpose DSPs, reflecting the platform’s specialist positioning in TV.

“The communication skill of their reps is amazing. They are always willing to hop on a call to go over any questions or concerns. They also keep a close eye on the campaigns they run and are able to catch errors and act quickly to correct them.” — G2 reviewer

“Simulmedia helped us run video advertising on big platforms without having to spend a huge amount directly with them. Large publishers usually have huge minimum spends and Simulmedia can get you in with a smaller budget.” — G2 reviewer

“The minimum spend for a managed campaign can be a bit discouraging for some, but is well worth it if you’re able to meet the criteria.” — G2 reviewer

Brands that have publicly used Simulmedia’s TV+ platform include Disney, Experian, MassMutual, Choice Hotels, Zelle, 1-800-FLOWERS, Monster, Electrolux, Rover, Nordstrom, and King’s Hawaiian.

Simulmedia vs Alternatives

Simulmedia vs The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk is the dominant independent DSP for programmatic advertising across CTV, display, audio, and digital OOH. It is a horizontal platform: CTV is one of many channels in a broader digital plan. Simulmedia is vertical: TV — both linear and streaming — is the entire product. The Trade Desk accesses CTV programmatically through SSPs; Simulmedia’s 250+ direct network integrations operate outside that supply chain, providing direct-path access to linear and some CTV inventory. Advertisers whose primary goal is TV reach and frequency optimization — rather than cross-channel programmatic unification — typically find Simulmedia more purpose-built for that outcome.

Simulmedia vs Google DV360

Google DV360 is a comprehensive enterprise DSP with meaningful CTV capabilities. Its inventory access is primarily programmatic; linear TV planning is not a core DV360 use case. Simulmedia’s depth in linear TV — spanning 15+ years of direct network relationships — and its patented cross-TV optimization give it a differentiated position for advertisers whose budgets weight heavily toward television rather than broad programmatic digital.

Simulmedia vs Amazon DSP

Amazon DSP provides CTV access through Amazon’s own streaming inventory (Prime Video, Fire TV, Freevee) plus third-party channels. Its core strength is closed-loop attribution against Amazon purchase data — particularly valuable for DTC and retail brands selling on Amazon. Simulmedia’s strength is breadth: 250+ network integrations including traditional broadcast and cable that Amazon DSP does not reach. For advertisers wanting TV-wide reach rather than Amazon ecosystem leverage, Simulmedia covers more ground.

Simulmedia vs Basis

Basis is an integrated digital media planning, buying, and analytics platform that handles programmatic, direct, search, and social from one interface. Its CTV capabilities are programmatic and sit within a broader omnichannel workflow. Simulmedia focuses exclusively on TV — linear and streaming — with deeper optimization and measurement built specifically for television inventory. Agencies using Basis for multi-channel workflow management sometimes activate TV-specific buys through TV-specialist platforms like Simulmedia.

Simulmedia vs Criteo

Criteo is primarily a commerce media and retargeting platform. Its CTV offering is programmatic and part of a broader performance marketing stack focused on retail and e-commerce. Simulmedia operates on different terrain: TV-first planning with an audience reach orientation. For brands prioritizing TV’s brand-building scale alongside performance outcomes, Simulmedia’s TV-native optimization goes deeper than Criteo’s broader commerce media toolkit.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Simulmedia’s TV+ platform? TV+® is Simulmedia’s unified TV advertising platform for planning, activating, and measuring campaigns across both linear television and connected TV (CTV). Rather than treating these as separate channels, TV+ plans reach and frequency holistically, applies patented ML optimization to audience targeting, and reports on verified cross-network exposure at the household level. It integrates with 250+ broadcast, cable, and streaming networks.

How much does Simulmedia cost? Simulmedia offers two tiers: Skybeam, a self-serve platform with free planning tools and media-spend-based campaign costs, and a managed enterprise service with negotiated pricing and minimum spend requirements. Exact managed minimums are not publicly disclosed. Industry benchmarks for CTV CPMs — relevant to Skybeam campaigns — range from roughly $5–$30 depending on inventory type, with premium programmatic CTV typically around $15 CPM. Contact advertise@simulmedia.com for specific pricing.

What is Skybeam and how does it differ from TV+? Skybeam is Simulmedia’s self-serve TV advertising platform launched in November 2024. It is designed for businesses and agencies that want to run TV campaigns without managed service minimums. Skybeam offers 250+ audience targeting options, a TV Impact Forecaster for pre-campaign simulation, real-time ROAS and conversion reporting, and — as of November 2025 — unified access to both streaming and traditional broadcast/cable TV in a single interface. TV+ is the enterprise-grade platform with deeper planning tooling, managed service support, full-funnel measurement, and the platform’s full AI optimization stack.

How does Simulmedia’s patented AI work? Simulmedia holds multiple U.S. patents covering its TV audience optimization engine. The core patent solves the combinatorial problem of selecting optimal inventory from 250+ networks to maximize cost-efficient audience reach. Using historical viewing data and machine learning, the platform predicts the probability that each target audience member will watch each available inventory unit, then calculates the combination of buys that maximizes unique reach within budget constraints. Its Automated Performance Optimization (APO) feature extends this into lower-funnel KPIs — website visits and conversions — with transparent budget reallocation that buyers can monitor and audit.

What CTV inventory does Simulmedia access? TV+® integrates with major ad-supported streaming platforms including Hulu, Peacock, MAX, Disney+, Roku, and FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channels, as well as OEM streaming environments. On the linear side, it covers 250+ broadcast and cable networks. The platform’s own incremental lift research has identified free ad-supported and OEM streaming environments as delivering the highest incremental conversion lift for cross-channel TV campaigns.

Does Simulmedia work for healthcare advertisers? Yes. Simulmedia has built a healthcare-specific data infrastructure through two partnerships. The M3 MI partnership (September 2024) enables privacy-safe targeting of patient and caregiver audiences on streaming TV using first-party, consent-based survey data. The OptimizeRx partnership (announced at Cannes Lions, June 2025) brings HIPAA-compliant Micro-Neighborhood® Targeting to Simulmedia’s full 250+ network footprint — including linear TV — allowing healthcare and pharma brands to activate clinically precise audiences with real-time campaign optimization.

How does Simulmedia handle cross-TV frequency capping? Frequency capping across linear and CTV simultaneously is technically complex because different networks and streaming platforms operate separate ad serving systems with no native cross-platform frequency data. Simulmedia addresses this through its audience graph, which tracks household-level exposure across its integrated inventory — allowing the platform to enforce unified frequency caps regardless of whether an impression was delivered on linear cable, a broadcast affiliate, or an AVOD streaming service. This prevents the over-frequency issue that commonly occurs when linear and CTV campaigns are managed separately.

Can Simulmedia prove TV’s impact on conversions? Yes. TV+ Incremental Lift uses deterministic household-level attribution with synthetic control groups to measure the causal effect of TV exposure on downstream conversions — as opposed to correlational post-campaign analysis. In a documented case, a $600K cross-channel campaign produced a 101.8% lift in conversions for CTV-exposed households compared to a matched control group. A separate OTC brand case study recorded a 274% incremental lift in web traffic and a 13% boost in profit ROI — described by independent measurement firm Keen Agency as the strongest TV performance recorded in their media mix modeling to date.

Recent Updates (2025–2026)

• November 2025: Skybeam launches traditional TV advertising, becoming the first self-serve platform to unify streaming and broadcast/cable TV inventory in a single interface. Local businesses, franchises, and agencies can now run TV campaigns on top broadcast and cable networks alongside streaming — with no media buying experience required.
• June 2025: Simulmedia and OptimizeRx announce a strategic partnership at Cannes Lions, enabling HIPAA-compliant Micro-Neighborhood® Targeting across 250+ TV networks and streaming platforms for healthcare and life science advertisers.
• September 2024: Partnership with M3 MI introduces consent-based, self-reported healthcare data targeting for pharma marketers on the TV+ platform.
• October 2024: Founder Dave Morgan returns as CEO, replacing Jon Werther. Morgan describes Simulmedia as “profitable and debt-free” with strong businesses in both cross-channel TV and in-game advertising (PlayerWON unit). Announces new CTV product in development.
• November 2024: Skybeam launches as Simulmedia’s self-serve CTV platform, introducing accessible TV advertising for small and mid-sized businesses with 250+ targeting options and a pre-campaign TV Impact Forecaster.
• August 2023: Automated Performance Optimization (APO) feature launches for TV+, enabling ML-driven mid- and lower-funnel optimization for CTV campaigns with full transparency into budget reallocation decisions.
• 2022: TV+® platform launches as fifth-generation cross-channel TV advertising platform, integrating ad-supported CTV channels (Hulu, Peacock, MAX, Disney+, Roku) with Simulmedia’s existing linear network integrations.

Explore More Media Planning Tools

• Halliard — Cross-channel media planning OS for modern media teams: unified planning, approvals, and performance tracking across all channels
• The Trade Desk — Independent DSP for programmatic advertising across CTV, display, audio, and digital OOH
• Amazon DSP — Programmatic advertising with access to Amazon’s streaming and display inventory, with closed-loop attribution against Amazon purchase data
• Google DV360 — Google’s enterprise DSP for programmatic buying across all digital channels including CTV
• Basis — Integrated digital media planning, buying, and analytics platform covering programmatic, direct, search, and social
• Criteo — Commerce media and retargeting platform with programmatic CTV and retail media capabilities
• Comscore — Cross-platform audience measurement and TV viewership analytics
• Nielsen Media Impact — Cross-media planning and reach/frequency optimization

Planning Resources

• CTV Media Planning Checklist for Automotive — Free planning resource
• Programmatic Display Guide for Retail — Free planning resource
• Programmatic Display Checklist for Automotive — Free planning resource

From the Blog

• Best Media Planning Tools for 2026 — From our blog

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