Key takeaways from TripleLift & Digiday webinar on first-party data strategy
CPM pressure isn’t a secret. CTV supply has outpaced demand, and nobody needs another vendor to explain the problem. What’s harder to find is a straight answer on what publishers are actually doing about it.
That’s the conversation TripleLift hosted with Digiday, bringing together Matt Ryter, VP of Video Sales, Sports Illustrated/Minute Media; Kristin Eardley, Head of Programmatic and Revenue Partnerships, Tastemade/Wonder; and Nick Schifano, Senior Director, Programmatic Strategy and Analytics, The New York Post. Three publishers, three different starting points, one shared strategy: use first-party data to defend margin and follow their audience beyond their own platforms.
Here’s what stood out.
1. CPMs are under real pressure – first-party data is the main lever publishers have left.
Eardley described a steep decline in CTV pricing over the last three to four years, as FAST inventory has outpaced demand faster than advertisers moving over from linear can absorb it. Her read on the fix: “Our hope is that with this first-party data, it will differentiate our inventory, whether it’s on-site or off-site, and help boost those CPMs, because everyone in the CTV space is looking for ways to enhance their inventory.”
Schifano echoed the same instinct at the New York Post: “No plan goes out without at least some first-party data on it. Whether the buyer uses it or not, that’s up to them. We’re pushing that forward.” Ryter agreed that “layering in our first-party data always garners a premium on CPM,” even with marketplace pressure holding steady.
2. Moving off-platform means learning a new playbook, not applying the old one.
The New York Post is early in extending its audience beyond its own channel into CTV. Schifano called it one of the biggest priorities on his plate right now – figuring out how to leverage the Post’s audience off-platform, “and not just on our own endemic categories.” But he’s candid that the transition hasn’t been simple: “I wish I knew how to do it two years ago… It’s a different playbook. I wouldn’t say it’s night and day, but it’s definitely significantly different than it was.” In addition, they’re also capitalizing on learnings from the different audience groups they have to launch the California Post and cater to readers on the West Coast.
3. Owning the data is the differentiator.
Tastemade built its own audience extension network rather than relying on third-party curation. “There’s a lot of curation platforms out there,” Eardley said, “but it gives you a lot less control over the inventory in your actual ad stack… you really have to position it as: we’re bringing our first-party data, and that’s really the differentiator. You’re reaching Grubhub delivery consumers, you’re reaching food enthusiasts.” The tradeoff is real work – managing margin, avoiding the perception of reselling, and proving the data adds value buyers can’t get elsewhere.
4. Building your own platform versus distributing everywhere else comes with a data tradeoff.
Sports Illustrated has leaned into distribution – going live across nearly every major streaming partner and network. Ryter sees it as complementary to the company’s owned web environment, “where we have our deepest relationship with our audiences… it’s not an either/or for us, it’s probably just a holistic view of the audience.” Eardley’s experience cuts the other way. As primarily a FAST content provider, Tastemade doesn’t control the platforms it distributes on: “We don’t own that data. We don’t own that audience. The platforms do.” That’s precisely why Wonder’s first-party data – from Grubhub, Blue Apron, and Tastemade’s owned channels – became so valuable: it’s the piece Tastemade had been missing when it didn’t control the distribution layer.
5. Content experience has to come before the data strategy pays off.
Sports Illustrated launched its FAST channel and first-party data strategy at the same time – a sequencing choice Ryter says that required discipline. “Without a great content experience for Sports Illustrated TV, you’re not going to build those audiences. No one’s going to come watch your channel, and then you can’t build and grow off of that.” The archival content, live sports rights, and new franchises come first; the audience signals that make the data valuable follow from there.
6. High-impact creative formats are where premium and meaningful connection lives.
Gabriele framed the shift: data only works if the creative reaching that audience is “both meaningful as well as taps into something that is appealing” without breaking the viewing experience. Schifano agreed the decision isn’t purely financial: “We lean on the user experience. The main goal is to keep everyone happy and to make sure that we continue to earn that trust that our users give us every day.”
Eardley pointed to Tastemade’s own track record – one of the first to market with high-impact CTV units, including squeeze-backs and overlays, launched with TripleLift back in 2021. Limited playout ownership forced some scaling back, but as Wonder consolidates its ad business across properties, she expects more room to build advanced formats again: “Fifteens and 30s, they’re great. But they’re not going to command the CPMs that you’re going to get doing the advanced units like with TripleLift or another vendor.” Ryter agreed, pointing to live-sports innovations like double-box units and “closer to the action” formats, plus richer in-show integrations beyond standard lower-third graphics.
The throughline
TripleLift’s Lauren Gabriele put it plainly: “Expansion in various ways is kind of the central theme to this conversation, and certainly how all of us are growing.” Whether it’s the New York Post moving into California and CTV, Sports Illustrated distributing across every major streaming platform, or Tastemade combining data across Wonder’s portfolio, each publisher is expanding reach on its own terms – and using first-party data to make sure that growth doesn’t come at the expense of margin.
