BY Kathy Crosett
Consumers enjoy TV viewing, and they are gradually increasing their connected TV (CTV) time. As we pointed out last week, the IAB predicts CTV (streaming TV) ads will grow faster than all other digital ad categories in 2025. But media sellers still face challenges when it comes to fill rates and convincing their SMB accounts that advertising on CTV works.
CTV Viewing Data
In 2024, the daily viewing of CTV programming hovered around one hour. More people are turning to CTV programming, but time spent per person is not increasing dramatically.
One particular area of concern is younger audience members. Analysts wonder whether younger viewers will engage with long content. For example, WURL reports that “Some 15% of YouTube Shorts content is now viewed on CTV.” Your accounts must consider the best way to reach younger viewers through CTV advertising.
CTV Ad Statistics
An audience for ad-supported streaming content exists. Well over 60% of CTV users will accept some amount of advertising in exchange for fee-free to free-reduced viewing. The ad load averages 9 minutes per hour of programming, well below the 15 minutes per hour that viewers see during linear programming.
Innovid reports “17.9% of media time is spent on CTV, but brands only spend 7.4% of their media budgets on this format. In 2026, U.S. adults will spend 20% of media time on CTV but advertisers will only spend 8.1%.”
Consumers are spending more time on streaming TV programming. But advertisers are not yet spending as much as they should. Some of their hesitation may have to do with the complexities of buying ads on CTV.
CTV Ad Fill Challenges
Another complexity with CTV media space is that more slots are opening. New service providers regularly come online. This situation makes the low fill rates likely to continue. And it’s also more challenging to get noticed by the target audience.
Advertising on the kind of content enjoyed the smaller, more targeted audiences can help. With a subscription to AudienceSCAN on AdMall, you can see the type of programming most enjoyed by hundreds of different audiences. Share this intelligence with your smaller accounts and encourage them to consider advertising on CTV.
CPM Pricing
There’s also the issue of pricing. Analysts report that Amazon’s aggressive move into the CTV market has suppressed prices. The average CPM for an ad-supported (AVOD) on Netflix went from $42.14 to $31.05 between early 2024 and early 2025. These changes may make the media format more appealing to smaller advertisers.
Local Advertisers and CTV
Many consumers can be reached with CTV advertising, especially in the local market. BIA believes some verticals will spend more heavily on streaming ads in 2025. They have pegged the following verticals for big growth:
- Hospitals
- Automotive (Tier 1 and Tier 3)
- Legal services
- Supermarkets
In the U.S. overall, advertising on CTV will likely reach $26.6 billion this year. Around 10% of the spending will be done by local advertisers. BIA projects that local CTV advertising is set to soar to $3 billion this year.
How Agencies Can Help Local Advertisers
More media companies are offering self-service platforms for CTV and small businesses can access this functionality through programmatic. After all, around 90% of all CTV advertising is done programmatically.
But the complexities of making these purchases are daunting, especially if an advertiser wants to purchase on multiple platforms.
Most SMBs don’t have resources to access inventory of demand-side platforms or the ability to buy ads. Partnering with “agencies remains the most viable path to success in this complex landscape.” If you have expertise in programmatic CTV ecosystem, work with your accounts to help them enter this media space. They can also benefit from your expertise with AI and the related data analysis.
CTV Strengths
The benefits of this media format are too strong to overlook. Marketers are also understanding the power of CTV as a performance media format. With well-placed ads, they can drive more traffic to their websites.
Analysts believe there is significant incremental reach for CTV. And the technology is evolving rapidly and may become a true “lower-funnel channel” and offer interactive shopping capabilities. Don’t let your small accounts fall behind. Help them navigate the format to achieve better competitive position against larger businesses.
Summary
Advertisers are taking note. As your accounts begin to check out advertising on CTV, they have questions. They want to control when their advertising appears. If they’re buying in more than one region, they want to know if there are audience differences between the regions. Position yourself as an expert on this rapidly growing market, and you'll win more accounts.
