As streaming video becomes a larger part of the advertising mix, the infrastructure carrying live feeds is becoming an increasingly important part of the media supply chain. NetActuate is entering that layer with its new Media Substrate, a managed network service designed to give broadcasters redundant, monitored paths for contribution-grade live video without requiring them to assemble separate carrier connections.

The advertising technology industry tends to focus on what happens after video reaches a streaming platform: audience targeting, ad insertion, measurement, optimization and monetization.

But before any of those systems can operate, the underlying video has to arrive reliably.

That infrastructure problem is the target of NetActuate’s new Media Substrate, a managed transport layer designed for broadcasters moving live video between markets. The service runs across NetActuate’s own global network and is intended to provide redundant paths for contribution and primary distribution traffic.

The company says customers send and receive a single stream while its network manages multiple underlying routes. NetActuate currently operates across more than 45 locations globally, with 22 in the U.S., and says the Media Substrate can merge diverse paths at the destination while monitoring latency and continuity along the route.

The concept is relatively straightforward: redundancy becomes part of the network service instead of something the broadcaster has to separately design, purchase and monitor.

That distinction could matter as live and premium streaming become increasingly important to the media business.

EMARKETER expects U.S. connected TV upfront advertising spending to reach $17.73 billion in 2026, overtaking primetime linear TV spending of $16.98 billion for the first time. The research firm says advertisers are increasingly looking beyond simple reach toward performance outcomes, while premium live content remains particularly valuable.

That means reliability at the contribution layer can eventually have consequences further down the advertising chain.

A failed or unstable live feed does not simply create a technical problem for a broadcaster. It can interrupt programming, affect viewer experience and potentially disrupt the inventory surrounding a live event. For advertisers buying premium CTV or live sports environments, infrastructure reliability is therefore an indirect component of media quality.

Moving redundancy into the network

Traditionally, broadcasters have had to assemble resilient connectivity themselves, often combining circuits, carriers and protocols across different markets.

NetActuate’s approach is to hide that complexity behind a managed service.

The company says the Media Substrate operates two diverse paths beneath a customer’s single stream. In a blackout test described by NetActuate, one path was completely disabled without causing the merged output to lose the stream.

That does not mean every deployment will have identical performance. Latency depends on the endpoints being connected, and NetActuate says it publishes route-specific latency figures rather than advertising a single latency number for its entire network.

The company also separates its network measurements from the customer’s last-mile connection. That distinction is useful for broadcasters troubleshooting performance because it avoids attributing local connectivity problems to the transport network itself.

The service supports 11 protocols, including SRT, RIST, UDP, MPTS, MoQ, SMPTE ST 2022-7, SMPTE ST 2110, RTMP, WebRTC, WHIP and WHEP.

For broadcasters, that protocol flexibility is significant because live-video environments remain heterogeneous. IP-based production has expanded, but organizations continue to operate mixtures of legacy and newer workflows.

SMPTE ST 2110, for example, has become an important standard for professional IP video, while SRT and RIST are widely used for contribution over less predictable networks. Meanwhile, Media over QUIC is emerging as another option for low-latency video delivery.

IBC’s 2026 programming reflects this broader transition, with the industry convention highlighting live video transport, Media over QUIC, infrastructure, failover and real-time analytics as key components of the next generation of streaming workflows.

Two deployment models

NetActuate is offering the Media Substrate in two configurations.

Managed Media Substrate is the default option, using the company’s existing network footprint without requiring a custom network build. It is designed for faster deployment and self-service activation through the NetActuate Customer Portal.

Custom Media Substrate is aimed at broadcasters that require an isolated deployment and greater control over geographic reach. That could mean a worldwide footprint, North American coverage or a defined group of countries.

The difference is therefore less about video functionality than infrastructure control.

That model could appeal to broadcasters that operate across multiple markets but do not want to negotiate and manage individual connectivity arrangements everywhere they distribute content.

NetActuate is also positioning two related services around the same network.

Its C-Band Transition Acceleration service provides U.S. broadcasters with terrestrial connectivity as they transition away from satellite infrastructure ahead of the upper C-band auction. Its MoQ Relay provides managed Media over QUIC delivery and can operate independently of the Media Substrate.

The three services will be demonstrated at IBC 2026.

Why this matters for CTV and advertising

From an AdTech perspective, the Media Substrate sits several layers below the traditional advertising stack.

It is not a DSP. It does not buy inventory, identify audiences or optimize advertising campaigns. It is also not an SSP or ad server.

Its relevance comes from the growing dependence of advertising on reliable streaming infrastructure.

CTV advertising is increasingly moving toward environments where advertisers expect television-scale reach alongside digital measurement. EMARKETER forecasts U.S. CTV ad spending at $36.95 billion in 2026, while noting that other international markets are growing at faster rates.

That growth puts more pressure on the infrastructure supporting premium live video.

The shift is visible in large-scale production as well. Fox Sports, for example, is deploying an IP-based remote production architecture using SMPTE ST 2110 and JPEG XS for live soccer coverage in 2026, illustrating how professional sports workflows are becoming increasingly network-centric.

As these workflows expand, broadcasters and media platforms have to manage not just video quality but resilience, latency, geographic diversity and observability.

That makes network infrastructure increasingly connected to the economics of digital media.

For enterprise broadcasters, the attraction of NetActuate’s model is operational rather than flashy. Teams can keep their existing encoders and protocols while outsourcing the complexity of network redundancy.

The trade-off is that the broadcaster becomes more dependent on the network operator for a critical part of the delivery chain. That makes route transparency, monitoring, geographic coverage and service-level commitments important procurement considerations.

The larger industry trend, however, is clear.

Live media infrastructure is becoming more software-defined and network-centric. IBC’s 2026 programming includes dedicated discussions around moving from satellite to IP, cloud-based broadcasting, live contribution and resilient low-latency delivery.

For advertisers, that infrastructure may remain invisible when it works correctly.

And that is precisely the point.

A reliable media transport layer does not create better advertising by itself. But it can provide the foundation on which reliable CTV programming, live-event distribution and ultimately premium advertising inventory depend.

Market Landscape

CTV’s expansion is increasing the importance of the infrastructure behind live and premium streaming. EMARKETER expects U.S. CTV upfront spending to reach $17.73 billion in 2026, exceeding primetime linear TV upfront spending for the first time.

At the infrastructure level, broadcasters are simultaneously moving toward IP-based production, remote production, cloud workflows and low-latency protocols such as MoQ. IBC 2026 is highlighting exactly these areas, including resilient delivery, infrastructure observability and satellite-to-IP migration.

NetActuate competes indirectly with a wider ecosystem of connectivity, media transport and cloud-video providers, including companies such as Zixi, AWS, Akamai, Cloudflare and Lumen, as well as specialist broadcast-network providers.

Its differentiator is the combination of managed transport, network ownership, protocol flexibility and built-in path redundancy.

Top Insights

• NetActuate’s Media Substrate moves live-video redundancy into the network layer, potentially simplifying infrastructure for broadcasters distributing premium CTV and OTT content.
• The service supports 11 contribution protocols, allowing broadcasters to preserve existing workflows while outsourcing path management, monitoring and failover to NetActuate.
• Growing CTV investment increases the importance of resilient live-video infrastructure because premium programming increasingly carries valuable advertising inventory.
• NetActuate’s managed and custom tiers target different enterprise requirements, ranging from rapid deployment across existing locations to isolated geographic network footprints.
• The launch reflects a broader migration toward IP-based, software-defined and cloud-connected media infrastructure across broadcasting, streaming and live-event production.

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