Spotlight ads on CTV are featured placement units on device home screens or streaming app navigation pages that give a brand, app, or content title elevated visibility within the browsing experience. The viewer is in content discovery mode — scrolling through what to watch — and the spotlight placement ensures a particular piece of content or brand message appears prominently in that browsing flow. On Amazon Fire TV, the top row of the home screen includes spotlight-style featured placements. On Samsung Ads, the Smart Hub banner at the top of the Tizen home screen functions as a spotlight placement.
Fire TV spotlight placements
Amazon Fire TV's home screen is one of the most-viewed CTV home screen surfaces in India — Fire TV Sticks are widely distributed and affordable, making them among the most common streaming devices in Indian households. The Fire TV home screen is organised in rows: the top row (Spotlight row) is the most prominent, followed by content rows organised by app or content category.
Amazon offers several ad products on Fire TV: Sponsored tiles (a brand or app tile in a content row), Featured App placements (app tiles with paid priority placement in app rows), and the Sponsored Center-Stage unit (autoplay video creative in the upper portion of the home screen). These are available through Amazon DSP, which provides programmatic access to some Fire TV inventory alongside direct deal options for premium placements.
Samsung Ads Smart Hub banner
Samsung's Smart Hub home screen features a prominent banner at the top that functions as a spotlight placement. This banner is one of the first things a Samsung TV user sees when turning on their TV. Samsung Ads sells this placement as a high-visibility brand awareness unit. The banner can be static, animated, or include an autoplay video loop. Samsung Ads' ACR data targeting allows brands to target viewers based on what content they have been watching — a uniquely powerful data layer for the spotlight format. A car brand can target Smart Hub banner impressions toward viewers who have recently been watching automotive content.
Streaming app spotlight placements
Within streaming apps, spotlight placements appear as promoted content tiles in the home screen's content discovery rows. JioCinema, Hotstar, and SonyLIV all offer sponsored content tiles — a specific film, series, or branded content piece is promoted to the top of a relevant content row. For content brands and streaming services promoting their own content, these placements drive viewership of specific titles. For non-content advertisers, branded content hub tiles within an app can function as spotlight-style placements where the brand's content series occupies a visible position in the app's discovery interface.
When to use spotlight ads
Spotlight ads are most effective for: app install campaigns (driving a specific app to the front of a viewer's consideration set before they choose what to watch); content promotion (driving viewing of a specific title, series, or branded content); and high-reach brand awareness at the device turn-on moment (Samsung Smart Hub banner for brands investing in a premium TV-equivalent presence).
For performance campaigns, spotlight formats are less efficient than search or targeted digital — the viewer is browsing, not actively searching for a brand. For awareness and consideration, spotlight's high-visibility position in the content discovery flow is valuable.
India availability summary
Amazon Fire TV spotlight: Amazon DSP (partial programmatic access), direct deal for premium placements. Available in India with India audience targeting. Samsung Ads Smart Hub: direct deal via Samsung Ads India team. LG Ads home screen: direct deal, India availability developing. JioCinema / Hotstar featured tiles: direct deal as part of content partnership packages.