Untangling The CTV Spaghetti Bowl
How FX Digital helps streamers build smarter in a fragmented ecosystem
Connected TV was supposed to make watching television easier. One screen, endless content options, cherry-picked subscriptions, no set-top box in sight. Instead, we’ve landed in a world with 15+ operating systems, regionally dominant hardware-software combos, overwhelming home screens and a paradox of choice crippling viewers and puzzling streamers. Somewhere in the middle of it all, people like Matthew Duhig are quietly helping brands make sense of it.
Duhig is co-founder of FX Digital, a London-based app development agency that builds for the big screen only. No mobile, no desktop, “just” CTV. Which, in 2025, means navigating an impossibly fragmented, ever-shifting ecosystem. Roku dominates in the US. Samsung and Sky are stronger bets in the UK. Want to build once and deploy everywhere? Tough luck. Roku uses BrightScript, Apple TV demands Swift. Everyone else is somewhere in between. And that’s before you even deal with annual firmware changes.
"A lot of what we do is just helping clients pick where to start" says Duhig. "What region? What demographic? That determines the stack."
Fragmentation doesn’t just affect developers. It shapes the very architecture of content discovery.
TV used to be about channels. Now it’s about visibility: which apps get a branded button or front-row placement, who pays for a tile on the homepage. Discovery is no longer a meritocracy. It’s a marketplace and increasingly it’s one dominated by ad ambitions. Sponsored tiles, branded remotes and homepage takeovers are the new norm.
Still, it’s not all doom and gloom. Fragmentation also means opportunity. For streamers without blockbuster budgets, regional operators like Magenta or Sky can punch above their weight. They may not match the reach of global players but they bring a powerful lever: prominence. “They actually help you get seen.” Duhig says. “That’s not something every global platform can promise.”
And yes, innovation is happening, just not always in plain sight. From voice-driven interfaces to second-screen gaming and AI-assisted testing, new ideas are reshaping how we engage with the living room screen. Platforms are toying with personalised content suggestions based on who's in the room. Developers are automating the grunt work to spend more time on polish. Slowly but surely, the ecosystem is growing up.
Which brings us back to FX Digital. They don’t pretend to fix the chaos but they do help clients navigate it, prioritising platforms, making smart tech trade-offs, and building apps that work across increasingly unpredictable environments.
Matthew will be speaking at Streaming Made Easy Live in Amsterdam on September 11th, alongside his co-founder Tom Smith. They’ll dig into how innovation is still possible on the most fragmented screen in the house and why it matters more than ever to reach younger audiences.
CTV is messy but at least it’s not boring.
Why attend Streaming Made Easy Live? No panels, expect value-packed presentations (on a range of topics: from AI, the creator economy to content discovery & bundling) and networking opportunities.
This event is for you if you’re a commercial or strategy lead, a product or tech decision-maker, at a broadcaster, streamer, telecom operator or CTV platform.
Submit your registration request via this link: https://lu.ma/w86bc5on
1st companies attending include: Channel 4, Xite, Proximus, Media Distillery, Liberty Global, BBC, Netflix, Media press group, Proximus, Liberty Global, FX Digital, Bango, Sling, A1, Whale TV, Orange, All3Media, Vodafone, SVT, tivù, ATP Media, Irdeto, TiVo, The Trade Desk/Ventura, OKAST, Zattoo, Kokowa, Rakuten, Ziggo, TF1, France 24, Euronews, Webedia, Telenet, NPO, Endemol and many more.
Here’s what the day will look like:
