Can You Prove What Your CTV Home-Screen Placement Is Worth? Looper Insights' Lucas Bertrand Says Now You Can

Looper Insights just handed the people who negotiate home-screen placement a way to price it themselves. Plus, founder and CEO Lucas Bertrand on who it's for, why the AI never touches the math, and why now.

The most valuable real estate in streaming is the first screen a viewer sees. MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson told Puck last month that Roku's home screen now works as a "gatekeeper", the map viewers use to find what's on. The gatekeeper also prices the map. A State of Streaming survey found 65% of streaming executives believe platforms charge premium placement rates without adequate proof but only 8% use third-party verification.

That 8% Access Problem

Looper Insights already tracks every app, title and campaign placement across major connected TV (CTV) platforms daily, and prices each one through its Media Placement Value ($MPV) metric. Until this morning, getting an answer out of that data meant an export or an analyst.

Looper's new chat functionality, powered by Looper AI, hands the answer to whoever asks. The AI reads the question. The database runs the numbers, and every response ships with its source table. The partnership lead walking into a platform meeting can now carry the number in.

Bertrand walked us through who it's for, what it fixes and why the timing matters.

"If You Can Ask the Question"

Who is the ideal user for Looper AI?

Lucas Bertrand: It's built for the teams at studios and streamers who work with our data every day: marketing, content, distribution and partnership teams. These are people who need to know how their titles and services are being promoted across connected TV home screens, how they compare with competitors, and what that visibility is worth. Often they aren't data analysts, and they shouldn't need to be. If you can ask the question, you can get the answer.

"Stand Behind It"

What is the core problem it solves?

Our clients already rely on Looper Insights data to understand what's happening on the home screen. Looper AI makes that data available to more people in the business, the moment they need it. Someone can ask how their new series was positioned across devices during its launch, or how their share of the home screen compares with a competitor's this quarter, and get the answer straight away in plain language. And because every number comes from our data rather than from the AI model, teams can take that answer into a meeting and stand behind it.

"Speed Without the Doubt"

Why now?

The CTV home screen has become one of the most contested spaces in media. Platforms and services are making more decisions about what gets promoted and where, and those decisions carry real commercial weight. The teams whose titles are affected need answers at the speed those decisions are being made. At the same time, people are now used to working with AI day to day, but many have learned to be careful with the numbers it gives them. We wanted to offer the speed without the doubt.

What Comes After the Chat Window

The chat window won't be Looper's last interface. The company plans public Model Context Protocol (MCP) access, which would plug its data straight into Claude, ChatGPT and Copilot. At that point the product stops being the place you ask. It becomes the numbers every assistant cites.

That puts pressure on two groups. Platforms that set home-screen rates now face buyers who can check the rate card mid-meeting. Data vendors face a sharper choice: compete with general-purpose AI, or become its source.

Home-screen inventory got more expensive. Checking it just got cheaper.

Disclosure: Looper Insights is a State of Streaming sponsor and data partner.