In 2022, we showed up at Affiliate Summit West with a big belief: TV could be bought and optimized on outcomes. At the time, that idea got more curiosity than conviction. We were having a lot of conversations, learning fast, and working to earn trust one partner at a time.
Fast forward to Affiliate Summit West 2026, and I’m incredibly proud of what this team has built. tvScientific was named Affiliate of the Year and received an ASW Partnerships Award. It’s an honor, but more than that, it’s a reflection of the partners and clients who believed in performance-led TV early and pushed forward with us.
And to top it off, I was honored to be recognized alongside Jason Fairchild, CEO of tvScientific, with Martech Record’s Think Big Award, and to be featured with him on the 2026 Top People Shaping the Affiliate Marketing Space You Should Know list.
These recognitions reflect the work of this team: challenging assumptions, reimagining what affiliate can become, moving fast, and staying relentlessly focused on measurable impact.
It also reflects a broader shift happening across performance marketing.
Our latest report, The State of Performance TV 2026, revealed that Performance TV now leads all channels for media spend, capturing 24% of budgets, ahead of social and search. What was once viewed as an experimental channel has quickly become a core growth driver, especially for performance-focused marketers.
It’s clear that performance marketing is evolving, and affiliates who can deliver flexibility, transparency, and measurable outcomes are setting the standard for what comes next.
The next era of affiliate marketing is built for outcomes
Affiliate marketing has moved far beyond its reputation as a last-click, bottom-of-funnel tactic. Today, it plays a meaningful role across the full funnel, influencing discovery, consideration, and conversion.
But with that expansion comes higher expectations.
Marketers want to know where their ads run, how their spend is optimized, and whether results are incremental. In fact, 44% of marketers say the ability to connect TV spend to measurable outcomes is what they value most about Performance TV, while 57% rank sales and revenue as their top outcome.
This mirrors the core promise of affiliate marketing itself: accountability. Partners are rewarded for impact (not activity). Performance TV fits naturally into this model when it is bought and optimized the right way.
The key to success: flexible buying
How TV is bought matters just as much as where it runs.
In programmatic TV, every impression is won through real-time bidding. Each time a viewer presses play, an auction occurs in milliseconds, and the outcome depends on bidding strategy, optimization signals, and performance goals.
Marketers are increasingly clear about what they want here. According to our report, 60% now prefer flexible, performance-driven buying models, such as CPA or a blend of CPA and CPM. Just 33% prefer CPM-only buying.
As marketers face more pressure to perform, fixed pricing without flexibility limits optimization and makes it harder to adapt as campaigns evolve. Flexible buying models allow marketers and performance teams to align on outcomes, adjust in real time, and scale what works.
AI-powered bidding makes this possible at scale. By evaluating millions of signals across audience behavior, content context, and historical performance, intelligent bidding ensures each impression is valued based on its likelihood to drive a real business result.
And that proof matters more than ever. 57% of marketers feel increased pressure from leadership or clients to demonstrate measurable results from AI-driven media. That means simply using AI is no longer enough. What matters is whether it’s driving outcomes marketers can stand behind.
The future of affiliate marketing
Our Affiliate of the Year and ASW Partnerships Awards reflect not only tvScientific’s growth, but also a shift in how performance marketers evaluate partners and platforms.
The affiliates shaping the future of the channel are those that:
- Support full-funnel strategies tied to real outcomes
- Offer flexible buying models aligned to business goals
- Provide transparency into media, measurement, and performance
- Use AI to optimize continuously, not just automate
By bringing affiliate-level accountability to premium TV inventory, we’re helping marketers unlock a channel that combines scale, attention, and performance.
Looking ahead
tvScientific was founded by leaders with deep experience across search, programmatic advertising, and measurement. That background shaped a simple belief that still guides us today: performance works best when incentives, data, and outcomes are aligned.
With AI-powered bidding, real-time optimization, transparent reporting, and outcome-based pricing, we give marketers the flexibility to buy TV the way modern performance marketing demands.
This year’s recognition at Affiliate Summit West is an honor and a reminder that the bar is rising across affiliate marketing and Performance TV alike.
If you’re ready to put flexibility, transparency, and outcomes at the center of your TV strategy, we would love to show you how. Request a demo to see tvScientific in action.
Affiliate Summit West 2026 FAQs
- What is Affiliate Summit West (ASW) and why does it matter for Performance TV? Affiliate Summit West brings together performance-focused marketers, brands, and partners who are deeply outcome-driven. The conversations happening there often signal where performance channels, including TV, are headed next.
- Why was Performance TV such a big topic at ASW 2026? Marketers are under pressure to prove real business impact, not just reach or impressions. Performance TV stood out because it offers measurable outcomes, scalable reach, and buying models aligned to results.
- What should marketers take away from ASW 2026? Accountability is now table stakes. Platforms that offer transparency, control, and outcome-driven buying are better aligned with how performance teams actually operate today.
