I have read a lot lately about how everyone is selling CTV.

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Some media companies are now giving away CTV just to sell their primary product.

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Think about that for a moment.

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In the dash for cash, if they give away their product to sell someone else’s, what does that say about the value of what they are offering?

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I realize posts like this don't make me popular; I can live with that. Thought leadership isn't about getting everyone to agree; sometimes it's about raising questions worth discussing. Sometimes it is lonely (coming in a different post)

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Today, TV stations, radio groups, cable companies, and digital agencies… sell CTV. But there is a massive difference between selling CTV and specializing in CTV.

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If you needed heart surgery, you’d go to a surgeon. If your car needed a major repair, you’d go to a master mechanic. Marketing isn’t heart surgery, but the principle holds: specialization matters.

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I spent 17 years as a General Sales Manager and Director of Sales at a major-market TV station. I know that model inside and out. Believe it or not, back then, our internal CTV team wouldn't even open up the backend of the CTV campaigns I oversaw so I could review the actual execution.

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That lack of visibility is a big reason why I left, AND why I’m so committed to full transparency today.

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CTV isn't just one item in my toolkit; it's the only thing I do.

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I work directly inside the platforms. I know the publishers, the inventory paths, and the true pricing. I build audiences alongside my clients, optimize campaigns hands-on, share actual floor costs, and deliver clear attribution. I am involved from initial strategy straight through final results.

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This limits my scale, but that was and is intentional.

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Maybe advertisers should stop asking:

"Who can sell me CTV?"

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And start asking:

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"Who actually understands the mechanics, and who is hands-on managing my campaign day-to-day?"

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Because having CTV on a pitch deck isn't the same thing as having CTV expertise.

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