Editor’s Note: A major theme of the 2025 NewFronts presentations in New York City this week was interactive TV ads, according to Chief Marketer Network pub AdExchanger. Instead of leaning back and consuming TV passively, consumers are being encouraged to interact with ads through QR codes and gamified experiences. Here’s an excerpt from the piece; for the full rundown of NewFronts takeaways, head to AdExchanger.

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Nobody seems to want to be in the TV business these days.

Well, no, that’s not really accurate. It’s just that companies in the CTV advertising space don’t want the device itself to be just a TV anymore.

Instead of simply watching ads on the big screen, consumers are now being encouraged to interact with those ads – a shift in marketing that was particularly apparent at the 2025 NewFronts presentations in New York City this week.

Just look at all the slogans being used in the larger presentations: “The Future of Connection” for LG Ads, “Beyond the Glass” for Vizio, “Go Beyond” for Samsung Ads. (To say nothing of the latter’s announcement of possibly bringing ads to smart fridges!)

Rather than a passive, “lean back” experience, LG Ads Chief Marketing Officer Tony Marlow told his audience on Monday, TV is “becoming the launch pad to proactive, lean-forward experiences.” Or, at least, that’s the goal.

Night of a thousand QR codes

So what makes people lean forward in the first place?

Interactivity, apparently.

Take Samsung Ads, for example. A few months ago, the company publicly launched its first GameBreaks ad format, a trivia minigame that’s playable by TV remote. On Tuesday, eight new games were announced for later in the year, alongside a new “ShoppingBreak” format, that look, at least in the preview photos, not unlike the kind of shoppable ads you see on TikTok or other social platforms.

While most of those formats are still in development, in the meantime, there’s Creative Canvas, a product offering that Samsung bills as a way for advertisers to layer interactive elements like QR codes on existing creative stock, including vertical video.

To read the full piece, head to AdExchanger.