CTV and streaming are changing the way in which viewers watch their favorite shows. The exclusive NFL stream on Netflix this Christmas averaged over 30 million viewers for every game within the double-header. (The top game of the previous 12 months’s Christmas triple-header averaged 29 million and alter on CBS.) Last 12 months was the primary 12 months ad spend on digital video was projected higher than linear TV. Here’s how this shift will affect viewers and advertisers in 2025.
More live programming on CTV
Over the subsequent 12 months, momentum will proceed for live programming on streaming platforms, and never only for sports.
“In 2025, streaming platforms will expand beyond live sports, offering more appointment viewing like comedy specials, concert events, political events, and even unconventional fare like hot-dog eating contests,” said Kevin Krim, CEO of ad engagement measurement company EDO. “Award shows may go streaming-exclusive, and weekly releases for scripted programming could make a comeback to sustain audience engagement. These live events highlight streaming’s unique power to create cultural moments, bringing people together in real-time and drawing advertisers to capitalize on shared experiences.”
Ad strategies leading with CTV
“The rapid consumer shift from linear TV to streaming has made connected TV (CTV) a cornerstone of recent promoting,” said Adam Roodman, GM of Yahoo DSP. “As streaming services expand their ad-supported tiers, advertisers will gain advanced control over reach, frequency, and targeting, making CTV an indispensable tool for engaging on-demand audiences.”
Top streamers like Netflix and Amazon Prime are increasing the variety of ad-supported tiers, which suggests more places where advertisers can run contextually relevant ads.
“The CTV space is expanding rapidly, with opportunities to shift from basic app-level targeting to more advanced methods like contextual and emotional targeting based on the tone of the content itself,” said Jon Schultz, CMO of programmatic promoting company Viant Technology. “These innovations unlock smarter, safer, and more measurable campaigns that deliver greater results.”
Dig deeper: CTV ads beat mobile and desktop for viewer attention
SSPs gain a bonus
“Digital video and CTV will proceed their meteoric ascent in 2025, presenting SSPs (supply-side platforms) with the chance to bridge the gap between supply and demand,” said Chris Hogg, Chief Revenue Officer for Lotame, an adtech company that connects with each SSPs and DSPs (demand-side platforms).
“As SSPs bolster their curation offering and make it easier to purchase CTV inventory directly, and agencies slowly adapt to audience-based targeting over the normal contextual approach of linear buys, the balance of power within the digital video landscape will tip towards SSPs,” Hogg said. “Parent corporations leveraging data collaboration technologies will further speed up this trend, unifying audiences across their subsidiaries for more detailed and scalable targeting.”
Personalizing ads with the assistance of AI
Streaming is cutting into linear TV’s long-time hold on live sports events. This is nice news for advertisers because streaming lets them do personalization in ways which can be inconceivable with linear TV
“[CTV] will probably be a key channel, with its rise in viewership resulting in more targeted and measurable campaigns,” said Sujatha Gopal, Chief Technology Officer of the Communications, Media and Information Services Business Unit at TCS. “Free ad-supported TV (FAST) and OTT (over-the-top) platforms will even see significant ad-based monetization.”
Gopal added: “Software will probably be using AI to optimize ads in real time. This means the ads can dynamically change to deliver a more personal message. Such ads usually tend to result in clicks, leading to a greater return on ad spend (ROAS).”
“People want to observe sports live, in real-time,” said Oz Etzioni, CEO and co-founder of digital promoting company Clinch. “And because the demand for live sports continues to rise, so does the investment within the tech that makes it possible. If individuals are willing to pay extra for live sports content, they’re providing you with a transparent signal: they need more relevant, personalized ad experiences.”
Consolidation of top shows and differentiation through FAST
“As legacy giants within the industry divest from traditional cable networks, we’ll see a consolidation in how consumers access premium CTV content,” said Aaron Grote, VP of digital products for digital marketing agency Stirista. “The most in-demand content will centralize into fewer, larger distribution points, leaving a polarized ecosystem with a dominant big head, an extended tail, and much fewer mid-market players.”
“While many predict a return to a cable-like bundling model, younger generations are driving more flexible, app-based consumption habits,” said Julie Clark, SVP, media and entertainment for TransUnion. “Emerging opportunities with FAST channels like Tubi will play an important role in reaching consumers in additional dynamic ways.”
Clean rooms help solve CTV data challenges
“Measurement will probably be critical, but which metrics may be trusted?” asked Travis Howe, Vice President, global head of latest product solutions for Samsung Ads. “It will probably be the clean rooms, not necessarily the measurement corporations, that may emerge because the unsung heroes…Effective campaign optimization would require a trifecta between brands, clean rooms and CTV partners with deterministic data to supply meaningful, measured results.”
Dig deeper: Data clean rooms: A beginner’s guide
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