Glossary
What is an MVPD?
A multichannel video programming distributor delivers bundled television channels to subscribers — cable, satellite and telco providers — and represents a major source of video advertising inventory.
What an MVPD is
The traditional television gatekeepers: cable operators, satellite providers and telecoms companies that bundle channels and sell them as a subscription package.
Their role in advertising is that they control distribution to the household, which gives them both their own advertising inventory and, increasingly, the ability to deliver addressable advertising — different advertisements to different households watching the same channel.
MVPD and vMVPD
A virtual MVPD delivers the same bundled-channel product over the internet rather than over cable or satellite infrastructure. The commercial model is nearly identical; the delivery mechanism is not.
That distinction matters for advertising because internet delivery makes every stream individually addressable, so a vMVPD can offer targeting a traditional cable operator cannot without additional infrastructure. In practice the categories are converging as traditional operators build addressable capability.
Why the category is declining
- Cord-cutting has reduced subscriber bases consistently for over a decade.
- Direct-to-consumer streaming removed the bundle's necessity, since content owners reach viewers directly.
- [FAST](/resources/glossary/fast-tv) channels provide a free alternative to the bundle's core proposition.
- Advertising budget follows attention, which has moved to streaming and to digital surfaces generally.
- The remaining strength is live sport, which continues to hold audiences the rest of television has lost.
Common questions
Is a streaming service an MVPD?
A single-service streamer is not — it distributes its own content rather than bundling others'. A service bundling many linear channels over the internet is a virtual MVPD.
Can I buy addressable advertising through an MVPD?
Where the operator has built the capability, yes. Coverage varies by market and by operator, and scale is generally smaller than CTV.
More in channels and surfaces
Screens beyond the phone, and the commerce that happens on them.