CTV Gains Ground, but Linear TV Still Dominates Ad Time

Connected TV (CTV) is growing its share of the advertising market, but linear TV continues to dominate in terms of total ad time and spending. According to eMarketer, linear TV accounts for 87% of TV ad time compared to CTV's 13%, while ad spending follows a similar pattern, with linear TV holding 63% of the market. Although linear TV still leads in overall content viewing time at 54%, CTV is closing the gap with 46%. Notably, Nielsen reports streaming alone accounts for 42% of total TV/streaming viewing, demonstrating the strong presence of digital platforms.

However, CTV shows a stronger return on investment for streamers vs. linear programmers. For each percentage point of ad time, CTV generates $2.2 billion in ad revenue compared to linear TV's $690 million. This efficiency is partly due to CTV's reduced ad load—approximately nine minutes per hour versus linear TV's 15 minutes. The lower ad density - combined with a projected decrease in CPMs - makes CTV an attractive option for advertisers.

Looking forward, nine premium streaming platforms are expected to surpass $1 billion in annual ad revenue by 2026, up from just two in 2020.

Full story at MediaPost.