Sky Media has rolled out a new artificial intelligence-powered advertising toolkit designed to make television advertising more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), reducing traditional barriers linked to cost, production time and technical complexity.
The new solution, unveiled by Sky’s advertising division, is aimed at brands with little or no prior experience in TV advertising, offering a simplified route to creating, testing and deploying broadcast-ready commercials across Sky’s platforms.
At the heart of the toolkit is Waymark, an AI-driven creative studio that allows businesses to automatically generate television adverts using content pulled directly from their websites. The system produces fully formed adverts in multiple formats, including 10-second, 15-second and 30-second durations, complete with scripts and regulatory compliance built into the process.
Brandspur Brand News understands that the toolkit also enables advertisers to tailor creative output to specific audiences and geographic locations, while combining Sky Media’s proprietary targeting tools, predictive analytics and creative intelligence to help brands optimise campaign performance before launch.
Sky Media says the integration allows SMEs to move quickly from concept to broadcast, testing different creative approaches and refining them with data-backed confidence. The platform is designed to remove the traditional friction associated with TV advertising, which has historically limited access to larger brands with substantial budgets.
Commenting on the development, Steven McHenry, Investment Director at Sky Media, said television continues to deliver unmatched levels of trust and attention, but acknowledged that production complexity has long discouraged smaller advertisers. He noted that the AI toolkit is intended to close that gap by giving new advertisers a cost-efficient and credible entry point into TV.
The service also incorporates Clearcast BCAP approval, ensuring all adverts meet UK television advertising standards and are cleared for broadcast without additional administrative hurdles.
Sky Media plans to further strengthen the toolkit next month by integrating insights from Norman, its advertising effectiveness databank. Drawing from thousands of previous campaigns, Norman will help advertisers forecast the potential impact of TV investment based on variables such as brand size, industry category and campaign budget.
The launch places Sky Media alongside other UK broadcasters accelerating AI adoption to attract SME advertisers. Channel 4 introduced its Smart Ad Engine in November, while ITV followed in September 2024 with its own AI-assisted advertising tool, initially deploying AI-generated ads for small businesses.
As broadcasters increasingly turn to automation and data-driven tools, Sky Media’s latest initiative underscores a broader industry push to democratise television advertising and unlock new growth from smaller brands seeking high-impact visibility.
