Julie Selman, Co-Founder of Magnite, on the leadership conversation marketing keeps losing, the rebalancing act between brand and performance now AI is reshaping discovery, the bowtie demand model, and what it takes to scale a fully remote agency through a pregnancy and a young family.
"Programmatic is not remnant. Curation and premium coexist."
Twenty years across digital media, from a Gumtree-found job at Vibrant Media in Italy to leading Magnite’s EMEA business at the centre of the new TV ecosystem. Julie Selman on the convergence of linear and streaming, why programmatic and premium are not opposites, what hyper-local data targeting unlocks for advertisers, why live is leaned in, why trust is the foundation of every transaction, and what twenty years of relentless change has taught her about staying curious.
Julie studied film and TV, briefly tried law, worked on film sets, and came to London for a Master’s in Media and Sociology. The Gumtree listing that became her first job was at a young ad-tech start-up called Vibrant Media in Italy, where she stayed almost four years through Business Development Manager and Head of Sales Italy. An MBA at SDA Bocconi followed, then CHEP, Qualifio, and from 2013 a sequence of roles building digital media businesses: media sales at Taboola, Sales Director EMEA at StickyAds, then Senior Regional Director and Senior Director of Demand Strategy at FreeWheel after Comcast’s acquisition. In January 2021 she joined Magnite as MD UK and Nordics, and eleven months later was promoted to SVP Head of EMEA.
In this conversation with host John Horsley, Julie argues that linear and streaming are complementary rather than replacement, that programmatic equals remnant is a persistent and incorrect myth (premium and curation now coexist), that hyper-local data targeting is reshaping what is possible on the big screen, that live broadcast remains the most leaned-in advertising environment and is still partly untapped, that trust is the foundation of every transaction in an increasingly automated marketplace, and that the career advice that has carried her through twenty years of change is the most useful one: stay curious, be comfortable with being uncomfortable, more problems are better. If we are not changing, we are dying.
"I needed a job. I went on Gumtree. I found a temp job at an ad tech company called Vibrant Media. I grew up with digital advertising."
Julie studied film and TV, briefly tried law, worked on film sets, came to London for a Master’s in Media and Sociology. The first job was a Gumtree listing for a temp role at a young start-up called Vibrant Media. She stayed almost four years, rising to Head of Sales Italy, and the company grew up around her along with the rest of the industry.
"Linear and streaming are complementary. Both have a role. The whole nation watching Bake Off is not going anywhere."
Linear TV (even running on a smart TV) keeps the collective audience moment: live sport, flagship shows, World Cup, Olympics, the family moment in front of the screen. Streaming layers data, targeting, A/B testing and removed minimum spends on top. The interesting inversion: broadcasters releasing whole series at once, streamers releasing one episode a week. Format is shaping behaviour, behaviour is shaping format.
"Programmatic is not remnant inventory. Curation, data and transparency mean premium and automated coexist."
A persistent and incorrect myth: that programmatic equals cheap and remnant. That confused the display market a few years ago and has not been true in CTV at all. Curation has reshaped the sell side: marketplaces let publishers package premium inventory by content, audience or signal; buyers get more transparency about what they are buying. Hyper-local activation (only advertise to a delivery service customer when it is raining in Manchester) shows the precision the system now delivers.
"Live is still slightly untapped in programmatic because it is unpredictable. But the leaned-in audience is exceptional."
Tentpole moments (World Cup, Super Bowl, F1) are still partly untapped in programmatic because spikes and unpredictability around extra time and ad breaks make them harder to plan. But the leaned-in audience quality is exceptional. FAST channels around F1 show the pattern: spikes around the actual race, brands buying both the moment and the surrounding ecosystem.
"Trust in media is at a low ebb. Slop, fake imagery, less human interaction. Every transaction is built on trust."
AI is eroding trust on the content side (slop, fake imagery, the question of what is real) and on the trading side (less human interaction, more automation that risks weakening the perception of trust even where the substance still holds). Julie’s position is that the human stays central. Get trust wrong once and the relationship is over.
"Trust is fundamental. Every transaction is built on it."
Host What drew you into advertising and media?
Selman I always loved media. Film, TV. I studied film and TV, went briefly to law school but it was not my passion. Worked on film sets during my student days. On a third-year trip to New York we visited the Madison Avenue agencies (Ogilvy and the rest) and I thought: this is glamorous, this is creative, I need to do something in this. I moved to London for a Master's in Media and Sociology and needed a job. I went on Gumtree and found a temp job at an ad tech company called Vibrant Media. Everyone was young, everyone moved fast, there was opportunity everywhere. I grew up with digital advertising.
Host The most significant shifts.
Selman Programmatic, header bidding, the many years of mobile. But for me, CTV feels full circle given my background. The convergence of linear and streaming and the way data and targeting are reshaping the big screen is incredibly exciting. Linear was the last medium still trading the old-fashioned way. That has changed.
Host The new TV ecosystem.
Selman Reflects the convergence between traditional linear broadcasting, streaming and premium digital video. For Magnite it is a great opportunity to create structure and clarity. It is overwhelming for buyers and publishers; there is a lot going on. We help buyers reduce complexity and automate efficiently. We help publishers package and monetise inventory in the new digital way.
Host Brand and agency misunderstandings.
Selman The biggest is that programmatic equals remnant or cheaper or less premium. Absolutely not the case. The other is the data you can now apply and the power of the big screen with that data layered on. Not fully understood, certainly not fully used.
Host CTV versus broadcast buying.
Selman Completely different. More dynamic, data-informed, audience-precise. Linear was the whole nation on Christmas Day, big budgets, no targeting. Now you can be precise, adjust messaging by audience, stop and start a campaign. Minimum spend commitments are largely gone.
Host Hyper-local data in action.
Selman First-party data plus signals. A delivery service that only wants to advertise if it is raining in Manchester. Specific, data driven, immediately measurable.
Host Streaming replacing linear?
Selman Not replacing. Complementary, maybe 50–50. Linear keeps the collective moments. Live sport, the Traitors, Bake Off, World Cup, Olympics. That family-in-front-of-the-TV moment is not going anywhere. A funny inversion: broadcasters are now releasing whole series, streamers are doing one episode a week. Format is shaping behaviour and vice versa.
Host Content as the constant.
Selman Unoriginal but true. Content is content is content. National broadcasters have an edge: breadth, local-language mandates in some countries, a different kind of content commitment. That is not going away to global streamers.
Host Marketplaces and curation.
Selman Becoming more important. Curation helps publishers package and monetise premium inventory better with data on top. The misunderstanding that automation means lower quality is wrong. We will see more evolution here, particularly with AI and agentic.
Host Trust, brand safety and quality.
Selman Fundamental. Trust in media is low at the moment. AI slop, fake imagery, what is real and what is not. Every transaction is built on trust. Get it wrong once and that is it. Automation reduces human interaction which can erode the perception of trust. Look around this room: thousands of people. Business is still run by humans.
Host Programmatic commoditising media?
Selman Misunderstanding. Maybe true on display a few years ago. Curation has changed that significantly. Sell-side transparency means buyers understand what they are getting in much more depth. The commoditisation argument does not hold.
Host The buyer's role evolving.
Selman Already very different. We used to call the publisher and send a fax with an insertion order. Long gone. Traders now use sophisticated tools. AI and agentic will change it again, quickly. Human interaction stays central.
Host Tech versus human balance.
Selman Job profiles will change. The mundane tasks (a half-day report becomes 10 minutes) get automated; the human gets used for the higher-value work. Someone still has to read what the report says and analyse it.
Host Viewer experience matters too.
Selman Critical. Early streamer ads were disruptive; you would hear a sad podcast and then a happy-clappy ad. Bad experience. Frequency, placement, relevance, repetition all matter. Broadcasters are exceptional at this; they have done it for decades. Streamers are learning. Testing is easy now, which helps.
Host The next five to ten years.
Selman Consolidation. M&A activity (Paramount and WBD, the Sky-ITV moves). Unusual partnerships (TF1 content on Netflix, ITV with Prime). A combination of consolidation and partnerships, plus whatever AI brings. The long-tail platforms either consolidate or disappear; scale still matters.
Host European complexity.
Selman Often misunderstood. Language, GDPR, tax law, labour law, market maturity. The UK is not Italy. Spain was complicated to open. Asia is ten times more complex again. Global strategy applied where it fits; local nuance respected where it does not.
Host Live and tentpole.
Selman Still slightly untapped in programmatic because unpredictable spikes and irregular ad breaks are harder to plan. But the leaned-in audience is exceptional. FAST channels around F1 show the pattern: spikes around the actual race, brands buying the moment and the ecosystem.
Host An overhyped trend.
Selman The metaverse. Zuckerberg just cancelled it. I called it. Never saw the case for a fashion brand sweater in the metaverse.
Host A capability every media organisation needs.
Selman The human one. With AI slop and fake content, real human creativity is what people will still tune in to. Long reads, investigative journalism, real murder mysteries. Invest in your humans.
Host A brand using video well.
Selman Specsavers. I love what they do. The soap-opera-style ads. The latest one is a hearing aid told as a suggestive thriller; you do not know what the device is until the end. Brilliant.
Host Advice to a younger marketer.
Selman Curiosity and comfort with change. If we are not changing, we are dying. Be comfortable with problems. More problems are better. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
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