Ubiquitous Video Expands High-Impact Ad Inventory: VideoElephant’s Brian Cullinane

Why It Matters

Standardizing CTV out‑of‑home gives advertisers a scalable, cost‑effective video inventory that bridges TV reach and OOH dwell time, reshaping monetization opportunities for publishers and legacy media brands.

Key Takeaways

• VideoElephant manages 5 million assets, adding 5k daily.
• AI powers localization, thumbnail creation, metadata, and LLM training.
• New CTV out‑of‑home format blends TV reach with dwell time.
• Standardization via IAB needed to define CTV out‑of‑home.
• Fast‑channel service offers end‑to‑end programming, distribution, monetization for publishers.

Summary

VideoElephant is a video‑content platform that curates roughly five million assets and ingests 5,000 new videos each day, alongside 300,000 hours of long‑form programming. The company’s core business is to syndicate, distribute, and monetize this library for media owners, publishers, and creators, while recently expanding into streaming, out‑of‑home (OOH) screens, and artificial‑intelligence applications. AI is now woven into multiple workflow layers: automated language localization, thumbnail generation, metadata enrichment, and even licensing the library to major AI firms for training large language models. These deals rely on VideoElephant’s consolidated rights and indemnification structure, positioning the firm as a low‑risk, high‑value data source for generative AI. The firm is also pioneering a hybrid CTV‑out‑of‑home format—horizontal TVs placed in venues where people dwell, such as bars, airports, and salons. As one executive put it, “It’s a CTV experience in places where people are spending time,” offering advertisers TV‑scale reach at lower CPMs. The lack of an IAB classification remains a hurdle, prompting VideoElephant’s participation in industry working groups to formalize the format. If standardized, this inventory could unlock a new full‑funnel channel for both branding and performance campaigns, especially for local advertisers and political advertisers ahead of midterms. The move promises broader distribution for legacy media brands, new revenue streams for publishers, and a more granular, context‑rich ad environment across the rapidly expanding video ecosystem.

Original Description

LAS VEGAS – VideoElephant positions itself as a connective layer across the video ecosystem, linking media owners, publishers and advertisers through a vast content library and distribution network.

Brian Cullinane, chief commercial officer of VideoElephant, said the company manages roughly 5 million short-form video assets, adding thousands more each day, alongside hundreds of thousands of hours of long-form programming.

“At our core, we have this very large video library,” Cullinane said in this interview with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at CES 2026, adding that the company’s focus is “helping those content owners and publishers and creators to get that content distributed and monetized.”

How AI is shaping content management and licensing

Artificial intelligence has become central to how VideoElephant manages and extends the value of its library. Cullinane said AI is used to localize content into different languages, generate thumbnails and enhance metadata at scale. Beyond internal workflows, the company has also struck licensing agreements with major AI developers.

“They see us as a very safe and reliable source,” he said, noting that VideoElephant can offer access to large volumes of rights-cleared content through a single legal framework, with indemnities in place for both partners and licensors.

Opportunities and pressures as video becomes ubiquitous

Cullinane acknowledged that the explosion of video creates both upside and strain, particularly for traditional web publishers losing traffic to AI-driven discovery. At the same time, he sees growth across streaming and vertical video, as well as in free ad-supported streaming TV. VideoElephant recently launched a managed service for FAST channel owners, providing programming, scheduling, distribution and monetization.

“Some of our legacy media brands are coming to us to either ask us to take over the management of their FAST channel or are looking to launch a FAST channel,” he said.

Why CTV out-of-home is gaining momentum

One of the most active areas for the company is connected TV out-of-home, which Cullinane described as a hybrid format that blends television-style viewing with physical venues.

“It’s a CTV experience, it’s just in out-of-home,” he said.

Unlike billboards or transient screens, these are horizontal TVs in places where people spend time, such as bars, airports and salons. Cullinane argued that the format combines TV-scale reach with the immediacy of out-of-home and does so at lower pricing than traditional in-home CTV.

Measurement, performance and the need for standards

While CTV out-of-home is often positioned as a branding channel, Cullinane said it also has performance potential, especially for smaller and local advertisers seeking proximity to real-world audiences. Measurement remains a challenge, however, and industry definitions lag behind reality.

“Right now the classifications are it’s CTV or it’s out-of-home, and it’s neither,” he said. VideoElephant is working with the IAB and other stakeholders to formalize standards, pushing for transparency around content, venues and delivery.

As Cullinane put it, the goal is to define “a video-enabled device in an out-of-home environment, running content in places where people dwell,” and give buyers and sellers a clear framework for growth.