ITV PLC (LSE:ITV), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA, ETR:CTP2) -owned Sky TV and Channel 4 are joining forces to take on tech giants Meta and Google by launching a shared advertising platform for their streaming services. The initiative aims to make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to buy TV ad space using a "self-serve" model, similar to those used by Facebook and YouTube, enabling campaigns to be booked quickly without an agency. The move is designed to capture a portion of the UK's £30 billion digital advertising market, where Google and Meta dominate by catering to SMEs with limited budgets. UK broadcasters traditionally missed out on this "long tail" of advertisers due to higher barriers to entry and less flexible booking systems. By integrating their streaming ad inventory and adopting ITV's Planet V technology, the broadcasters hope to attract advertisers who previously relied solely on social media.