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The Big Story: Live From CES 2026

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AdExchanger's Big Story podcast with journalistic insights on advertising, marketing and ad tech

Going into the Consumer Electronics Showcase, there are a few things you expect to see every year when you enter the main convention center show floor – like dancing robots, for example. (Bonus points if they don’t fall down.)

At C-Space, which is the convention’s digital advertising hub, the innovation might be a little less eye-grabbing (and, hopefully, less laugh-inducing).

But, for marketers, there’s still a lot to take in. Heck, some of it might even be useful!

This year at CES, agentic AI made a big splash, as streaming platforms and agency holdcos alike showed off their new tools.

While these offerings are finally starting to deliver on last year’s promise of more agentic capabilities, truly autonomous programmatic buying is still a ways off.

In this live podcast episode, we discuss the finer points of what we saw this year, why the show has become such a meaningful connection point for CTV buyers and sellers and why Public Enemy’s music (we listened to a performance at the conference) makes for surprisingly good CES listening.

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