Leaning Into CTV Advertising: What the Latest Data Says

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Nadine Krefetz (6837)

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We've reported any number of times on the <a href="https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/Columns/Ad-Sense/The-Monetization-Story-of-2024-and-Beyond-164679.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="monetization story of 2024">growth of CTV advertising</a>&nbsp;as it continues to steal marketshare from traditional linear, but is CTV still the golden child? <a href="https://www.mediaocean.com/2025-advertising-outlook-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="Mediaocean's 2025 Advertising Outlook Report">Mediaocean's 2025 Advertising Outlook Report</a>&nbsp;suggests the balance is shifting, as 68% of 688 marketing professionals surveyed say they expect to increase their spend on social in the first half of 2025, compared to 67% for digital video/digital display and only 55% for CTV."Reviewing the data from the past four years, it&rsquo;s evident that traditional media is being increasingly deprioritized as digital channels gain momentum and popularity among both consumers and advertisers," summarizes the report. "Social Platforms, in particular, have experienced remarkable growth, with a 21% increase in ad spending between 2022 and 2025. This shift underscores the growing importance of digital and social media in shaping advertising strategies and <a href="https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/News/Online-Video-News/CES-2025-Disney-Talks-Ad-Tech-Ad-Targeting-and-Ad-Buying-167532.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="disney talks ad targeting">reaching target audiences</a> effectively compared to traditional channels."<img src="https://dzceab466r34n.cloudfront.net/Images/ArticleImages/InlineImages/167436-mo2-ORG.png" alt="mediaocean ad spend" width="800" height="978" />Projected ad spend increase by platform in H1 2025, according to Mediaocean's 2025 Advertising Outlook Report<h2>Surveying the Field on Social vs. CTV</h2>Research from <a href="https://omnichannel.thetradedesk.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="trade desk omnichannel">The Trade Desk looks at Omnichannel buying</a> and provides classifications like, "CTV can build emotional connections," "audio aids short and long-term recall," and "DOOH (direct out of house) excels at encoding brand awareness." Nowhere do they mention social.Meanwhile research from iSpot.TV indicates that advertising on social video, including YouTube and TikTok, is providing a shorter pathway to an actual sale than a lean-back TV experience. "Social video and CTV are ripe with opportunities to build affinity, to drive new behaviors such as liveshopping, and to combine pre-produced creative with influencer-led campaigns. Brands looking for a holistic understanding of how video advertising is performing have no choice but to embrace social video because the dynamic targeting and relevance makes it premium attention," according to their report <a href="https://www.ispot.tv/hub/resources/free-reports/2025-predictions-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="iSpot">Nine Things that Will Reshape Video Advertising in 2025</a>.This tug of war going on for exactly where ads should be run has some very specific swim lanes, according to Mediaocean's sector-specific research. They say more than half of industry verticals, including auto, direct-to-consumer, education, entertainment, financial services, pharma/health, and telecommunications are choosing social platforms as the primary channel where they will be increasing their ad spend.Two sectors, quick-service restaurants and travel, are opting to increase their spend on CTV advertising. Three--Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), retail, and technology--are choosing video / digital display.<h2>CTV vs. Gen AI</h2>Mediaocean's data also says that CTV and streaming have moved into second place among the most important consumer trend moving forward, as Generative AI claims the top spot. Given CTV, digital, and mobile are viewing platforms where both content and advertising will be consumed, and Gen AI is not, it seems like these marketers were asked to compare apples and oranges."As more consumer attention migrates away from traditional television to user-generated, short-form content, advertisers may need to follow this migration with approaches that go beyond the 30-second or 15-second spot. These may include relying more on influencers, offering experiential promotions, and tapping into new technologies that enable creative messaging," writes PwC Perspectives in their <a href="https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/tmt/library/global-entertainment-media-outlook.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="pwc Global Entertainment &amp; Media Outlook ">Global Entertainment &amp; Media Outlook</a> (as an aside, why do all other groups talk about media and entertainment--M &amp; E--and PwC does the reverse, E &amp; M?)<a href="https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/ceo-survey.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="PWC's 27th Annual Global CEO Survey">PwC's 27th Annual Global CEO Survey</a>, has some interesting research on the impact of Generative AI, where 57% of M &amp; E CEOs--compared with 45% of CEOs in all industries--reported their current business path would no longer be viable in ten years."For example, over the next year, about half of CEOs [from all industries] expect generative AI to enhance their ability to build trust with stakeholders, and about 60% expect it to improve product or service quality. Within the next three years, nearly seven in ten respondents also anticipate generative AI will increase competition, drive changes to their business models and require new skills from their workforce," says the report.It concludes, "CEOs who say they have adopted generative AI across their company (about one-third of our sample) are significantly more likely than others to anticipate its transformative potential over the next 12 months, as well as over the next three years."PwC shows media and entertainment CEOs had the highest response of all industries to the question: "To what extent will generative AI impact headcount in your company in the next 12 months?" with 32% expecting to reduce head count by 5% or more in 2024 due to generative AI.Aside from the 57% commenting on AI's impact on their business and the workforce reduction stat, there is nothing else published that's specific to the media industry. PwC CEO study is extrapolating data from internal research which we have no way of verifying.PwC's M &amp; E research expects advertising to do well. "This broad advance of ad revenues underlines the wider opportunities for other E&amp;M players. Addressable, measurable ads delivered on TV screens will become a vital contributor to the revenues of direct-to-consumer online video providers," the report states. PwC projects CTV advertising to double, from US$20.5 billion in 2023 to US$41.2 billion in 2028.<h2>What About Social?</h2>The Mediaocean research says the favored medium this year social, so should we believe the PwC research factors this in?The biggest problem with most research reports is they are very self-serving and tend to promote the business behind the research. The one organization which is fairly neutral on social media is Statista. They <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1258232/daily-time-spent-online-worldwide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="statista time spent using the internet">report</a> 143 minutes of social media is being consumed per day or 1 in 3 minutes. Those are high numbers, and CTV will need to lean much further forward if M &amp; E expect to reach the revenue numbers PwC revenue projects.

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