WARC: AD SPENDING ON CTV GROWING, BUT SLOWER THAN RETAIL MEDIA

Connected TV, or CTV for short, is in a growth phase, as viewers and advertisers migrate from linear broadcast television. The channel is being hyped by media owners and ad tech vendors alike as offering the ideal synthesis of TV reach and digital addressability.

CTV ad investment is expected to reach $25.9bn globally in 2023, up 13.2% year-on-year. However, as WARC report outlines, that ad spend growth has been restricted by the reality that CTV is – for the most part – competing in a finite budget pool that advertisers allocate to professional video. CTV – defined here as all digital professionally-produced video, including FAST and AVOD but excluding YouTube – faces a challenge to persuade marketers of its performance credentials. Until it does so, it will struggle to win share of investment from digital channels including search, social and retail media.

Work needs to be done to ensure that CTV fulfils its potential and media owners are able to attract investment from outside the TV market," comments study co-author Alex Brownsell, head of content at WARC Media.



According to the study, the shift of younger generations to streaming and the adoption of smart TVs present opportunities to reach harder-to-reach target groups with advertising. As GWI data shows, by 2023, members of Generation Z are expected to spend an average of 90 minutes of time on streaming versus 86 minutes on linear TV. In the U.S., then, CTV is owned by 83 percent of households, according to TVision, and Samsung research adds that easy access to streaming apps is "by far the most important feature" when deciding on smart TVs.



In the report, WARC Media examines ad investment and consumption patterns, and talks to industry experts about the growing pains CTV may experience in the years ahead. Study available on WARC.com

Source: WARC.com; mam.cz