As streaming advertising matures, one issue continues to separate promise from performance: identity. Advertisers want precision and measurable outcomes, regulators demand privacy safeguards, and platforms are under pressure to deliver both without locking buyers into closed ecosystems.
Xumo, the streaming joint venture backed by Comcast and Charter Communications, believes it has found that balance.
The company has announced the launch of a new advanced identity solution designed to help advertisers connect with audiences more effectively—and more confidently—across Xumo’s growing streaming footprint. By integrating verified third-party identity data with Xumo’s own viewership signals across devices, smart TVs, and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels, the platform is aiming to deliver better targeting, clearer measurement, and stronger transparency, all while keeping consumer privacy front and center.
For brands navigating the increasingly complex CTV and streaming ad landscape, Xumo’s move signals a broader shift: identity is no longer just about reach—it’s about trust, interoperability, and accountability.
Why Identity Still Matters in Streaming
Streaming has solved many problems traditional TV never could—addressability, frequency control, and real-time measurement among them. But identity remains a persistent challenge.
Fragmented devices, household-level viewing, and privacy-driven signal loss have made it difficult to understand who is watching what, and how ad exposure translates into outcomes. At the same time, advertisers are pushing harder for deterministic signals and cross-platform measurement, especially as more budgets move from linear TV to CTV and FAST environments.
Xumo’s new identity layer is designed to address that gap by combining multiple trusted data sources into a unified, privacy-conscious framework that works across the open ad tech ecosystem.
What Xumo Is Bringing to the Table
At its core, Xumo’s solution brings together four key components:
- Proprietary viewership data across Xumo’s FAST channels
- Household and demographic data from TransUnion, including multidimensional insights to better understand audience characteristics
- Third-party identifiers from The Trade Desk (Unified ID 2.0) and LiveRamp (RampID) to enable secure, privacy-conscious data activation
- First-party viewership data from Xumo devices, improving match rates and interoperability
The result is a more robust identity layer that supports richer ad requests, higher match rates, and stronger measurement—without relying on invasive tracking or opaque data practices.
By anchoring its approach in verified third-party data and widely adopted identifiers, Xumo is signaling that it wants to be an enabler, not a gatekeeper.
Built for Advertisers, Not Just Scale
Xumo says the new identity capabilities allow advertisers to target audiences more effectively, measure campaigns more accurately, and gain better visibility into how and where ads are delivered.
That’s increasingly important as advertisers scrutinize streaming investments more closely. CTV may be premium by definition, but performance expectations are rising—especially as economic uncertainty forces marketers to justify every dollar.
According to Xumo, the enhanced identity layer helps advertisers maximize ROI by improving audience matching and enabling clearer outcome-based measurement across streaming campaigns.
For agencies, that means fewer blind spots and more confidence when allocating budgets across CTV, FAST, and broader video strategies.
Privacy as a Feature, Not a Tradeoff
One of the most notable aspects of Xumo’s announcement is its emphasis on privacy—not as a compliance checkbox, but as a design principle.
Rather than building a proprietary ID or relying solely on device-level signals, Xumo is leaning on established, privacy-conscious frameworks like Unified ID 2.0 and RampID. These identifiers are designed to support addressability while respecting consumer consent and regulatory requirements.
By pairing those IDs with TransUnion’s household and demographic data, Xumo aims to deliver relevance without crossing into surveillance—a balance advertisers increasingly expect from premium platforms.
This approach also positions Xumo favorably as regulators and browsers continue to restrict legacy tracking methods. In a post-cookie, privacy-first environment, platforms that can offer durable identity solutions without overreach stand to gain trust—and market share.
Strategic Partnerships Matter
Xumo’s identity launch is not happening in isolation. The company worked closely with industry heavyweights including TransUnion, The Trade Desk, and LiveRamp—a deliberate choice that reinforces interoperability and scale.
From Xumo’s perspective, these partnerships ensure advertisers can activate data seamlessly across familiar workflows, rather than learning yet another proprietary system.
From an industry standpoint, the collaboration reflects a growing consensus: identity solutions work best when they’re shared, standardized, and trusted—not locked behind walled gardens.
Executives involved in the launch echoed that sentiment, emphasizing the need to balance precision with responsibility and to give advertisers confidence in both reach and compliance.
What This Means for the FAST and CTV Market
FAST platforms have exploded in popularity, offering viewers free, ad-supported access to premium content while giving advertisers incremental reach beyond subscription streaming services.
But FAST also faces unique challenges. Inventory is fragmented, audiences are diverse, and measurement standards are still evolving. A strong identity layer can help address all three.
By unifying viewership data across FAST channels, devices, and smart TVs, Xumo is positioning itself as a scalable, brand-safe environment where advertisers can reach millions of engaged viewers across news, sports, entertainment, and lifestyle content.
Just as importantly, the platform’s integration with leading ad tech partners ensures agencies can plan, buy, and measure campaigns without sacrificing flexibility.
Standing Apart From Walled Gardens
In recent years, much of streaming innovation has been concentrated inside closed ecosystems. While those environments offer scale and convenience, they often limit transparency and restrict how advertisers can use their own data.
Xumo’s identity strategy takes a different route. By supporting widely used third-party IDs and verified external data, the platform aligns more closely with the open internet model—one that many advertisers still prefer for flexibility, accountability, and cross-channel insights.
This positioning could prove especially attractive to agencies and brands looking to diversify spend beyond dominant platforms while maintaining consistent measurement and targeting standards.
A Signal of Where Streaming Ads Are Headed
Xumo’s identity launch reflects a broader industry trend: streaming advertising is moving from experimentation to optimization.
Early on, advertisers were satisfied just reaching streaming audiences. Now, they want performance, precision, and proof. Identity is the connective tissue that makes those goals achievable.
By investing in a privacy-first, partner-driven identity layer, Xumo is signaling that it wants to compete not just on reach, but on outcomes—and to do so without sacrificing advertiser trust.
As CTV and FAST continue to absorb larger shares of TV budgets, platforms that can offer scalable reach, strong identity, and transparent measurement will be best positioned to win long-term advertiser confidence.
For Xumo, this launch is less about a single feature and more about infrastructure—laying the groundwork for a streaming ad ecosystem where effectiveness and responsibility are no longer at odds.
