Automated buying applied to traditional broadcast and cable schedules using set-top box data to insert relevant ads into live feeds.

The highest bidder wins, and the ad is served instantly to that household's screen. The Core Environments

While the "buy" happens programmatically, the ad can appear in several different TV environments:

Historically, TV ad buying was a manual "spray-and-pray" process involving phone calls with network sales reps to secure 30-second spots for broad demographics like "females under 35". Programmatic buying replaces these negotiations with software and algorithms that decide in milliseconds which households see which ad, at what price. How the "Deep Story" of Programmatic TV Works

Within milliseconds, various advertisers’ software—known as Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) —evaluate if that specific viewer matches their target audience (e.g., "dog owners earning over $75k").

Programmatic TV buying is the automated, data-driven method of purchasing and placing television advertisements across streaming and traditional channels.