Miles Fisher on the next era of streaming TV performance
Welcome to Innovators Unscripted, a series where we share unfiltered insights from some of the most disruptive voices in today’s advertising ecosystem. Miles Fisher, senior director, strategic advertising partnerships at Roku, joins for a conversation about the future of streaming TV advertising—what performance really means today, where ad dollars are heading next, and how Roku is powering interactive experiences through the remote control.
Here are the takeaways that stuck with us.
Performance means something different to every media buyer
Streaming TV performance isn’t about just one metric. Some media buyers are running reach campaigns, while others are measuring return on ad spend (ROAS) or direct sales from stores and sites. Roku’s job is helping each one achieve whatever goal they’ve set, not pushing a single definition of success.
Streaming signals unlock both scale and performance
Media buyers no longer have to choose between scale and performance thanks to the growing amount of data and signals now available in streaming. Miles notes that Roku is finally at a point where it’s able to pass the signals that marketers want, providing richer information about each impression so they can make better decisions. That shift is the result of growing education on both the buy side and the sell side about the value those signals actually unlock.
“[A] signal is really just the way to pass more information that allows the advertisers to better understand what’s happening with the impression.”
Miles Fisher, Senior Director, Strategic Advertising Partnerships
Roku
The opportunity for streaming TV to win performance dollars
Working with Index has brought Roku a different pool of media buyers—ones pushing further into bottom-of-funnel performance outcomes, not just the reach and frequency goals that have defined the shift from linear to programmatic streaming TV. Miles points to a TV market where dollars are steadily moving from linear to streaming as that shift plays out.
“How can TV dollars steal from search and social, which have historically really been bottom-of-the-funnel, performance-based? If we can all partner to pass more signal[s], drive more outcome[s], the whole ecosystem wins.”
Miles Fisher, Senior Director, Strategic Advertising Partnerships
Roku
The stakes go beyond media mix. At many brands, the teams that control video and TV budgets are entirely separate from the teams that control performance budgets. Helping to prove streaming TV performance is what gives it a path to capture more budgets and represents a major growth opportunity for streaming TV overall.
Roku is turning the remote control into an interactive experience
Consumers want more interactive TV experiences that feel natural, not ones that ask them to change their behavior. Miles points to QR codes as a useful contrast—scanning one only caught on out of necessity, when menus went digital during the pandemic, not because it’s a natural behavior.
The remote control is a different story. It’s already in every viewer’s hand, which is why Roku built Action Ads around it. One press on the remote delivers a text with a link or opens an app directly on the viewer’s phone. The TV and the phone work together at the moment a viewer’s interest is highest.
“Television has really become a two-screen experience, and if we can help consumers get from the big screen to the small screen, and drive influence, that’s a really important signal we can capture.”
Miles Fisher, Senior Director, Strategic Advertising Partnerships
Roku
Roku rolled that experience out intentionally, starting with media buyers most likely to see it work. Adoption began with Roku’s largest category, media and entertainment, then expanded into TV-adjacent categories like food delivery, travel, and home improvement. Miles’ main goal is teaching viewers to use the remote not just to change the channel, but to make television a lean-in experience instead of a lean-back one. Roku’s Action Ads join a broader shift toward emerging ad formats that meet viewers where they already are.
Reaching 100 million households changes what a home screen can do
Roku now reaches 100 million streaming households, comparable to the reach of the Super Bowl, every single day.
“It’s really on us as the largest operating system in streaming to help customers get to content quicker.”
Miles Fisher, Senior Director, Strategic Advertising Partnerships
Roku
That scale comes with responsibility. It’s led to Roku’s biggest home screen redesign in over a decade, using AI and recommendation engines to surface relevant content for viewers. This means media buyers’ ads sit inside a more personalized, higher-attention environment, rather than a static grid of thumbnails. It also helps streaming publishers grow monetization without disrupting the viewer experience.
The mindset that drives streaming TV forward
For Miles, the trait that separates the best innovators is simple: intellectual curiosity. The smartest people he’s worked with are the ones who stay curious about how things work.
That mindset is helping shape the next chapter of streaming TV advertising. As richer signals, more interactive experiences, and stronger measurement continue to move the industry forward, curiosity will be what leads to new technology and better outcomes for media buyers, streaming publishers, and consumers alike.
We break down all the complexities of programmatic streaming TV in our Index Explains video series. Tune in to learn how to make the most of your streaming investments.
