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Even in 2026, much of TV advertising is still powered by manual workflows, static deals, and delayed buying signals. Securing custom content packages from a premium publisher means many phone calls, weeks of back-and-forth, rigorous vetting, and purchase minimums high enough to shut out everyone but the largest brands. This model wasn't built for modern marketers operating in a world driven by real-time data and performance.
At Universal Ads, we’ve always been committed to removing the barriers to entry to premium TV for smaller and digital-first brands. That’s why today we’re launching a new approach to TV advertising for brands of all sizes, powered by agentic buying tools.
Through a new partnership with FOX Advertising, we’re introducing AI Agent ad buying where AI agents could represent buyers and sellers directly. The new workflow, powered by humans and executed by agents, will enable those brands without direct relationships to access premium TV content in ways that were previously unavailable.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Universal Ads to take the first step in agent-to-agent ad buying. This collaboration unlocks new possibilities for advertisers of all sizes, making premium FOX inventory more accessible and dynamic than ever before. Together, we are redefining what’s possible in TV advertising.” - Stephano Kim, Chief Strategy & Operations Officer, Fox Advertising
From the outside, today’s experience looks simple. Advertisers set up a campaign, activate it, and receive reporting.
But behind the scenes, accessing premium publisher inventory, especially custom deals, often involves more coordination:
Many advertisers, especially smaller ones, are excluded due to high-budget minimums, time-intensive negotiations, or a lack of established trust and direct relationships with publishers. And even after navigating these barriers, advertisers are still often stuck with choosing from pre-defined inventory, and not inventory built specifically for their campaign goals.
Agent-to-Agent ad buying can remove these barriers by enabling AI agents to transact directly on behalf of buyers and sellers. A buyer agent understands the advertiser’s brand, goals, audience, and budget, while a seller agent understands inventory, pricing, and performance. Together, they build and negotiate custom packages in real time.
This unlocks a new level of access for advertisers, allowing them to align directly with specific networks and programming instead of relying on generalized inventory or high-touch, manual processes.
Purpose-built for content-led, publisher-direct transactions, Agent-to-Agent buying can deliver premium, unique packages designed around the brand, not just efficient delivery.
While the teams continue to define strategy, build relationships, and guide creative direction, agents facilitate the transaction. Guardrails, along with human oversight, ensure quality execution and alignment with brand standards.
With AI Agent ad buying, advertisers can expect:
Importantly, this model is designed to enhance, not replace, the relationships that are core to the TV ecosystem. Direct partnerships between advertisers and publishers remain critical to how ads and placements are designed, curated, and aligned to brands. Agent-to-Agent buying can preserve those relationships while streamlining the transactional aspects of ad buying.
This model builds on the infrastructure Universal Ads has invested in from day one.
Advertisers are verified through Universal Ads’ AI-enabled onboarding and risk process, and Universal Ads manages payments and billing so that publishers can have confidence that every buyer from UA is vetted and trusted, with trust being the key element for any multi-party transaction.
From there:
What historically took days or weeks is reduced to a single automated flow.
To bring this to life, we partnered with FOX Advertising and worked with Crexi, a commercial real estate marketplace, as the first advertiser. While FOX inventory had always been of interest to Crexi, the time and effort required to access custom packages made it difficult to justify through traditional buying workflows. With AI Agent ad buying, that barrier was removed.
In this pilot:
What would have previously required weeks of coordination and manual negotiation was completed in minutes, making access to premium FOX inventory as seamless as activating a campaign on social platforms. Three parties, one coordinated workflow, completed in minutes.
"Partnering with FOX and Universal Ads on this agentic pilot has given Crexi an opportunity to explore a more streamlined approach to accessing premium TV inventory. The ability to activate campaigns more efficiently and align them with our marketing objectives represents an exciting evolution in the TV advertising landscape. We're looking forward to learning from the results of this pilot and better understanding how solutions like this can help brands like ours connect with relevant audiences in new ways." - Sandra Carvalho, Chief Marketing Officer, Crexi
This is just the beginning, and it already points to where TV is headed. Custom, publisher-direct transactions that once demanded significant coordination, negotiation, and big budgets can now be planned, negotiated, and activated automatically putting premium inventory within reach of advertisers of every size. As this model evolves, the combination of human design and expertise, trusted relationships, and intelligent automation will define the next era of premium TV buying.
If you're an advertiser ready to transact with premium publishers on your terms, book a demo here to learn more.
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