The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) has released a new paper defining a structural shift in how identity operates across the US TV and CTV marketplace – from a tactical capability to core market infrastructure.
As converged viewing accelerates and advertising workflows evolve, the paper sets out the critical role that identity now plays, underpinning the ability to transact, measure and optimise media across linear TV, CTV and FAST environments. What was once a technical enabler for targeting has become integral to measurement, accountability, and coordination across the ecosystem.
“The industry is undergoing a structural transition in how identity functions within the TV marketplace,” said Jon Watts, Managing Director, CIMM. “Identity is now central to how buyers and sellers operate in a converged environment. The progress we’re seeing is meaningful, but it also underscores the need for greater transparency, stronger governance, and systems that can operate reliably at scale under increasing complexity.”
This paper draws on insights from CIMM’s February 2026 Innovations in Identity Resolution Showcase, where over 100 companies gathered to review the latest innovations in the IDR space. It brings together perspectives from leaders across publishers, agencies, platforms, and identity providers to examine how identity systems are evolving amid fragmentation, privacy pressures, and the rising influence of AI in media workflows.
The findings highlight that identity accuracy and data quality remain foundational challenges. Prior CIMM research conducted with Truthset found linkage accuracy to be materially lower than commonly assumed, averaging approximately 51 per cent for hashed email-to-postal matches, with significantly lower accuracy for inference-based IP-to-household linkages.
While these findings point to greater structural uncertainty across identity systems, the paper identifies significant opportunities to unlock additional supply across the TV ecosystem. Linear TV continues to represent the majority of US ad spend, yet identity limitations – rather than supply constraints – have restricted its integration into programmatic workflows. Advances in signal enrichment and interoperable identity frameworks are beginning to close that gap, enabling more consistent cross-platform measurement and activation.
CIMM defines this next phase as ‘Identity Infrastructure 2.0’, characterised by four structural shifts:
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Deterministic household identity as a primary anchor for cross-platform measurement and addressability.
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Transparency and provenance as requirements for measurement-grade identity.
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Configurable, enterprise-controlled identity systems operating within governed environments.
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Signal enrichment to make fragmented supply interoperable across platforms.
The paper also underscores that identity is becoming increasingly critical as AI-driven and automated media systems evolve. As optimisation becomes more autonomous, identity quality directly impacts measurement accuracy, attribution, and decisioning. Ultimately, the paper positions identity as a strategic control point for the future of converged TV, particularly as privacy requirements tighten and first-party data becomes more central to media strategy.
