Marketers are expected to allocate more ad dollars to Connected TV as content and usage increase. … [+]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
During the pandemic Connected TV was established as a video source for millions of homebound viewers. Even as the growth of broadband connections has plateaued, marketers have allocated more ad dollars on CTV. A series of recent surveys report the continued acceptance of CTV with programmers, advertisers and viewers with strong growth forecasts for the years ahead.
In a survey, Leichtman Research Group said over 80% of TV households have at least one connected TV device (a penetration higher than cable TV), with a mean of 4.1 devices per connected TV household. The study also found 39% of adults watch streaming video content daily and 60% watch weekly. These figures are nearly identical with last year, an indication that post-pandemic CTV viewing has not tailed off. To no one’s surprise young adults are the heaviest viewers of CTV.
In addition, Vizio, a manufacturer of smart TVs, has seen a sizable shift in viewing behavior over a short period of time. Vizio reports that nowadays about one-third of all TV viewing is linear compared to 60% from just two years ago as viewers migrate to streaming video. The recent roll-out of new streaming providers with award-winning premium content has helped to fuel consumer adoption.
While several prominent streaming providers do not have ads, marketers are continuing to support CTV. In their latest ad spend projections released in September, IPG MAGNA is forecasting CTV ad spend to grow by 34% in 2021 totaling $5.4 billion for the year. By comparison, in 2021 ad dollars for national TV (broadcast and cable) is expected to grow by a more modest 7.4%. For 2022, MAGNA is projecting continued growth with a year-over-year ad spend increase of 28.4% reaching nearly $7 billion in ad dollars. In addition, with political advertising soaring, AdImpact forecasts CTV ad dollars to reach $1.48 billion for the mid-term elections, next year, a figure higher than cable TV.
Network executives cited the 2021 TV upfronts as “one for the ages” and a “watershed moment” with percent double-digit increases in CPMs. Helping to drive that growth was CTV which reportedly accounted for an estimated 20% to 30% of ad dollars. eMarketer reported that for upfront negotiations TV buyers had ramped up their ad spend for CTV by nearly 50%, totaling $4.5 billion in ad dollars.
An Innovid/ANA report in 2020 said CTV accounted for 40% of all digital video impressions shares, up from 31% in 2019. Mobile video continues to have the highest share of video impressions at 43% (down from 48%). The digital video share of desktop video impressions had declined from 46% in 2016 to 16% in 2020. A recent survey on TV convergence from TVSquared found nearly three in four respondents say “TV” is now defined as linear and streaming.
Helping to drive viewers to CTV has been YouTube which, of late, has been prioritizing CTV over other screens. Both Nielsen and Comscore
SCOR
rank YouTube and Netflix
NFLX
as the leaders in time spent viewing streaming content on CTVs. eMarketer says YouTube CTV viewers grow by nearly 63% in 2020 and over 50% of YouTube content is now viewed on CTV.
This month, Comscore announced …….