With technology making the TV advertising world a more complex place. Disney Advertising came to CES in Las Vegas talking about how it could magically improve its clients’ business.

A year ago, Disney closed out its Global Tech & Data Showcase by announcing Disney Magic Words, which it said would enable advertisers to place appropriate ads at key emotional moments in programming. 

On Wednesday, Disney said its magic was real–and said it would be expanding Disney Magic Words into live programming, including sports. 

Disney packed a lot of tech and data-driven products into its presentation. The company also talked about developments in product innovation, measurement and of course artificial intelligence. 

The video business is increasingly becoming streaming based, and Disney touted not only its capabilities but its scale, claiming 157 million ad-supported monthly active users for its streaming services, Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, with two-thirds of those users in the U.S.

To help advertisers take advantage of that scale, “we have redefined the advertising experience  with the most sophisticated streaming-first global ad tech stack in the industry,” said Rita Ferro, president, global advertising for The Walt Disney Co.

Ferro said the company has “built our own high-fidelity audience graph that brings scale and accuracy to everything we do, introduced innovative viewer-first ad formats now being emulated across the industry, set a new standard for transparency and measurement.Again the show-closer was Disney Magic Words. Last year, media buyer Dentsu identified Magic World tied to the travel category to send better times messages to viewers for United Airlines.

With Magna Global, clients including  Chipotle and T-Mobile saw strong results. 

“Emotional connections to key moments boosted brand perception and engagement,” Ferro said. “Aligning ads with the right moments in real time creates deeper consumer connections and stronger brand loyalty.”

Disney is expanding the ability to use its Disney Magic Words in live programming next quarter.

“Picture double overtime in the Peach Bowl. Fans are enthralled and its the perfect time for brands to be in the game,” said Jamie Power, senior VP, addressable sales at Disney.

“But because of traditional programmatic buying strategies, you have already hit your frequency cap,” Power said. “The viewership spike . . . the hype . . . the attention . . . all gone.”

The answer to capturing those moments is biddable buying at scale through Disney’s certified platforms: The Trade Desk, Yahoo DSP, Google’s Display and Video 360 and Magnite.

“We believe these platforms demonstrate a shared commitment to delivering excellence in live streaming, Power said. “We have confidence that the technology will respond in real-time. The confidence that these platforms can capitalize on the spike in viewership, increased bid density and scale during live moments.”

Those platforms also have the ability to pre-ingest creative and have it ready to go, she added.

Disney’s new chief product & technology officer, Adam Smith, previously with Google and YouTube, talked about how technology enabled the company to create more “personal experiences with our products” using machine learning and data-driven personalization platforms, combined with its unified identity platform, continuously improving algorithms and server-side logic.  

“Our teams have been busy advancing the use of machine learning and AI to develop, test, launch and iterate new product features and ad solutions at even greater quality and speed,” Smith said. “What that means for our users is that we will continue to drive more personal content recommendations, create richer discovery experiences, and deliver ads that are more resonant for our audiences.”

As live programming becomes more important to TV viewers and advertisers, Disney is bringing more of its innovation to live sports, news and competition programming, like The Bachelor and Dancing with the Stars.

“Let’s face it. Delivering live streaming experiences is hard.  It involves delivering millions of concurrent streams. Handling traffic spikes during key moments. Minimizing buffering and pixelation, coordinating the right talent and production teams. Reducing latency to ensure viewers can watch a game as close to the live edge as possible, said Josh Mattison, executive VP, digital revenue, pricing, planning and operations. “There is nothing worse than being 2 to 3 minutes behind the action and getting spoilers from friends or social media. And that's before you even add advertising into the mix. One thing that’s clear is that as streaming services embrace the power of Live, there’s work to do across the industry, Work to deliver for consumers, and to unlock the full opportunity of Live for advertisers.”

Disney has been providing live programming across its linear networks for decades, and has been delivering live streaming for years Including massive global sporting events, award shows, and live daily programming. 

“It’s time to take the next step forward in live advertising,” Mattison said.

Traditionally in live sports, most viewers see the same commercial at the same time, which is fine for a few national advertisers, he said.

Disney will be enabling advertisers the chance to offer more personalized commercials during live programming.

“Using the power of programmatic and real-time bidding to capture valuable live impressions, advertisers will be able to reach specific consumers with custom creative across tens of thousands of live games on the ESPN platform,” Mattison said. “This is a huge step forward in streaming advertising, spanning live entertainment and sports.”

He added that the ad technology will be a core feature of ESPN Flagship, the direct-to-consumer sports offering coming in the fall.

In addition to the current linear ESPN channels and ESPN Plus, flagship will integrate features like betting, commerce and fantasy and deliver a personalized SportsCenter experience, Mattison said. 

“Flagship will use data, technology, and AI to personalize experiences for fans and advertisers alike,” he said.  

To deliver for advertisers, Disney has been developing measurement and targeting tools, including a proprietary audience graph and Disney select, which provides audience segmentation and targeting. Those tools are designed to be interoperable, allowing agencies and clients to use their own data, in addition to Disney’s to plan and execute campaigns.

On top of that, Disney has metadata for its content at the scene level and uses live data generated by ESPN Bet, Gamecast and fantasy sports to predict, anticipate, and respond in real time to capture attention for marketers.

In the last 12 months, more than 200 brands have used Disney clean room technology to harness all that data. The result has been higher match rates than industry benchmarks, said Dana McGraw, senior VP, data and measurement science.

Last summer Disney launched its Bridge ID as a way of resolving identity with third parties including measurement companies and demand side platforms. 

Since its introduction, McGraw said, “over 6,500 brands have adopted Bridge ID, using it to streamline their digital workflows, enhance targeting, and create more cohesive cross-platform campaigns.

On top of that, McGraw introduced the Disney Select AI Engine, which can drive audience scale and outcomes with a high level of accuracy.

The Disney Select AI Engine also allows us to deliver sequential messaging starting with frequency shaping, which you’ve all been asking us for,” she said.

“Today, we are proud to announce that we are expanding these products globally into all markets where Disney+ is available,” said McGraw, “This fall we launched our Audience Graph and Disney Select segments in Latin America, and EMEA is next on the roadmap.”

While there has been much concern that the TV business has been hurt by the shift to streaming, Mattison made the case that streaming is a better version of TV. 

“Disney audiences don’t just stream their favorite shows, movies and sports. They immerse themselves into the worlds we create and they pull us into their worlds,” Mattison said. 

“In Fortnite they are choosing to play as Marvel’s Deadpool or, as Family Guy’s, Peter Griffin,” he said. “In sports, it’s not just about watching your home team anymore, It’s about individual player performances in fantasy, The stats and analytics that go beyond the game and the clips that are watched and shared and become cultural currency.”

And in terms of the ads themselves, “this is not about mimicking a broadcast experience. It’s about unlocking streaming’s full potential and moving beyond traditional formats. Viewers want the power to shop, Explore, learn, or even play games—on their terms,” Power said.

Starting with Pause Plus ads this fall, Disney is offering user initiated ad enhancements that give viewers the power to decide how they interact with an ad, she said.

Disney has been working with Brightline, Innovid and KERV to produce new ad formats.

“There is trivia, polling and games when a viewer is looking for more or there are seamless shopping experiences,” she said.

According to Disney’s Generation Stream research, “people are watching more content when we offer it in a seamless, integrated experience. Offering content across multiple platforms is not cannibalizing viewership—it’s expanding it,” Mattison said.

If that’s really the bottom line, then it is magic indeed.