Infra.tv, a TV advertising technology company, has announced the rebranding of its subsidiary TheViewPoint as Upstream, marking a strategic shift from legacy SSP technology to innovative direct sales automation solutions for CTV publishers. Upstream joins its sister companies, Tatari and Vault, in the shared mission of modernizing infrastructure for TV Advertising.

TheViewPoint was acquired by Infra.tv in 2022 as a traditional supply-side platform. Since then, the company has deprecated its commodity SSP offerings to focus on solving automation challenges that CTV publishers face with direct sales. The rebrand to Upstream reflects this evolution, says the copany: moving beyond table-stakes supply-side infrastructure to deliver technology that addresses what publishers actually need to grow their most valuable revenue stream.

CTV publishers generate the majority of revenue through direct-sold campaigns, but the process remains largely manual. Publishers routinely field and fulfill hundreds of insertion orders from individual buyers – a process that stands in stark contrast to the automated efficiency of programmatic advertising. Upstream’s platform addresses this gap by fully automating direct-sold campaigns through native integrations with publisher ad servers, including NBCU, Paramount, Tubi and Warner Bros Discovery, in addition to Disney through its technology stack. The platform currently connects major streaming publishers — collectively representing the majority of streaming direct impressions in the market – directly to advertiser demand sources such as Tatari.

“We acquired TheViewPoint because we believed the CTV supply chain could and must evolve beyond the inefficient constructs borrowed from digital display and video,” said Philip Inghelbrecht, CEO of Infra.tv. “Upstream is the manifestation of that belief. By automating direct sales—the most valuable but operationally intensive part of publisher revenue—we’re not just optimising the supply path, we’re fundamentally shortening it. Publishers shouldn’t have to choose between premium direct relationships and operational efficiency. With Upstream, they get both.”

“The industry has needed a more modern approach to direct sales for some time,” said Michael Reidy, SVP SMB Growth, Advertising & Partnerships, NBCUniversal. “Automation that reduces operational friction while preserving the value of direct relationships is essential to how premium publishers scale, and platforms like Upstream are helping move the ecosystem forward.”

“Upstream’s technology delivers significant value, and the platform’s evolution to enable direct sales automation is a key advancement to reduce operational complexities and drive greater long-term efficiency,”  noted David Futterman, VP, Paramount Advertising.

“We partnered with Upstream because they understand that automation shouldn’t mean commoditisation,” said Peter Graseck, Senior Vice President of Sales at Tubi. “Upstream preserves Tubi’s premium positioning and direct relationships while reducing friction, enabling brands to connect more effectively with our 100-plus million monthly active users, especially younger, hard-to-reach audiences.”

“As an organisation we have embraced efficiency and automation, and we are excited to partner on Upstream.  We value our partnership with Tatari and have seen strong results thus far,” added Marisa Crocker, VP of Programmatic Operations and Partnerships, WBD.