100% Digital TV Is Coming. Are You Ready?

The 100% digital future of TV is on its way. In fact, in many ways, it’s already here.

As a viewer, you enjoy the advantages of connected TV with Disney+, Netflix, Paramount+, and other streaming services.    

As an advertiser, you know in your bones that the audience and performance data delivered by CTV will transform advertising — ultimately making your campaigns more targeted and effective than ever before.  

At a recent briefing of analysts and investors, Innovid executives and customers explored the rise of digital TV. As you can see in the video clips below, they discussed how the viewership of CTV is expanding, why advertisers are boosting CTV spending, and how the format can help strengthen advertising performance.

Read (and view) on to better understand how CTV is transforming TV and advertising.

CTV Is Changing How Viewers Watch TV

The numbers tell a clear picture of how viewers are flocking to CTV. Between 2019 and 2024, CTV viewership is projected to more than double. Currently, the average adult spends 2 hours and 14 minutes per day viewing subscription OTT. By 2025, 87 percent of U.S. households will have streaming devices, according to a Parks Associates report.

Streaming is also changing how fans watch sports; they are taking in games on platforms such as Paramount+, Peacock, and ESPN+. The day is fast approaching when more streaming platforms will bid for (and win) major sports leagues’ TV rights. As a result, many of the games you want to watch will not be available on linear TV.

Ad Spending on CTV Is Booming

As more viewers move to streaming, advertisers shift budget there, too. Advertisers follow eyeballs. It’s an ironclad phenomenon called the Meeker Gap. Analysts project CTV spending will continue its rapid growth, reaching $40.9 billion in 2027, according to eMarketer.  

Additionally, formerly subscription-only services are adding advertising options. Netflix and Prime are just two examples of streamers moving from purely subscription video on demand (SVOD) to also offering advertising video on demand (AVOD). 

More than 50% of all U.S. internet users will watch AVOD in 2023. Free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) is also growing. Three streaming services—Local Now, Plex, and Roku—each offer more than 400 channels, according to Variety. 

CTV Is Poised to Make Advertising More Effective

CTV and the interactive advertising it enables promise to make campaigns more effective. As TV becomes more digital, it becomes more like the internet, and so advertising on TV now presents more opportunities throughout the marketing funnel and shifts advertising from purely an awareness play to one that generates measurable outcomes. 

These advanced creative executions, which can include usage of QR codes, are extremely effective, and Innovid has the data to prove it. For instance, one recent advanced creative effort delivered a 600% lift in consumer engagement. 

CTV generates streams of data. With this information, advertisers can assess campaign performance in real-time and optimize just as fast (especially if they’re using Innovid’s new feature, Instant Optimization). Ultimately, CTV enables advertisers to actually put into practice the age-old advertising maxim of the right message to the right audience at the right time.  

The Next Generation Isn’t Watching Linear TV — Don’t Get Left Behind

Linear TV has dominated how the world’s leading brands and the globe’s top agencies view advertising. This legacy may be slowing the shift to CTV. So as digital natives like Millennials and Gen Z gain more control of advertising budgets, expect that the momentum toward CTV advertising will only accelerate. 

Learn more about how Innovid can prepare you for the future of TV — today.