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Advertising: Ad-supported connected TV is on the rise

Apparently the telly just isn’t the same without the commercial breaks…

… Because ad-supported connected TV (CTV) saw a 55% increase in time spent during the second half of 2022 – a 48% share, according to TVision measurement agency.

Distribution of time spent viewing CTV

Correlation or causation?

The increase in eyeballs is happening right not long after Netflix and Disney introduced ad-supported tiers. An interesting coincidence, for sure.

Meanwhile, ad-free subscription-only streaming services dropped 30% to a 36% share at the same time, showing that people are opting to pay less for ad-supported tiers.

Household reach by app

And now Apple wants in

The tech giant is apparently preparing to introduce an ad-supported tier for Apple TV+.

How do we know? Well, Apple is hiring seasoned TV advertising expert Lauren Fry to “help build a video advertising service,” so…

Why we care

With just about every big platform introducing or planning to introduce ad-supported tiers, CTV is slowly becoming a mainstay in US households.

That’s good news for marketers, because it means more channels and more opportunities to promote.

… And that may lead to affordable placements for smaller to medium-sized businesses as well. Fingers crossed.