State of CTV market in 2024: Trends, statistics, and regional insights

It’s 2024, and advertisers are dropping linear TV faster than consumers. 

Linear TV ad spending dropped by 5.4% in 2023, double the rate of decline in viewing. As new ad-supported streaming services launch in the markets and traditional broadcasters switch to free ad-supported television, brands will further amp CTV ad spending. 

Get the juiciest global and regional insights for Europe, APAC, North America, and LATAM to inform your strategy for 2024 and beyond. 

Key CTV Statistics for 2024

CTV and OTT advertising markets are red hot. Connected TV ad spend is set to hit $23 billion by the end of 2024, becoming 35% larger than online video. Retail, CPG, and tech brands spend the most with connected TV partners. Top CTV platforms, such as Hulu, YouTube, Amazon, Roku, and Peacock, will each generate over $1 billion from their OTT advertising platforms, eMarketer says. 

CTV ads have been seen to have a 98% completion rate and 51.5% attention rates on average. So no wonder that 87% of brands say CTV advertising is effective or superior to traditional TV ads. 

As connected TV viewership grows year-on-year, even more brands will flock into the space. GroupM expects CTV to account for 51.5% of all TV ad revenue by 2029. eMarketer expects almost on-par ad spending between linear and CTV by 2028. No matter which forecasts come true, the conditions for CTV/OTT platform development are superb. To gain further insight into the evolving CTV landscape, we spoke with Rupert Staines, CEO at Vector Retail Media. He shared his thoughts on how the CTV market is transforming and provided an example of a successful campaign that leverages the unique targeting capabilities of CTV.

This example illustrates the powerful capabilities of CTV advertising in reaching specific audience segments and achieving campaign success with a relatively modest budget. As more brands recognize these advantages, the shift towards CTV is expected to accelerate even further. Now, let’s explore the regional patterns of growth in the CTV landscape for 2024.

The state of connected TV market: Regional overviews 

Let’s shift from the broad overview to a closer look at the CTV landscapes in Europe, APAC, North America, and LATAM.

Europe 

European markets are still dominated by linear, but change is coming. In Europe, the leading BVOD platforms reached double-digit percentages of users. The recent launches of ad-supported tiers also draw swashes of viewers (and advertisers). FAST TV is gaining momentum, although many challenges remain on the infrastructure level. 

The UK

Linear TV saw the sharpest decline in weekly viewership, from 83% in 2021 to 79% in 2022, but Ofcom says viewership of SVOD, AVOD, and video-sharing platforms is on the rise. The Trade Desk data also says viewing time is up on streaming by 40% compared to 2021. 

The good news for connected TV advertising platforms is that the Brits have a penchant for free ad-supported content: 68% prefer it over paid streaming services—which is 8% higher relative to the US, LG Ad Solutions found. A quarter of survey participants spend 2-5 hours per week consuming CTV media. 

The most popular ad-supported broadcast video-on-demand (BVOD) services include BBC iPlayer, ITVX, and All4—each with a monthly reach of at least 30%—and they’re building out their video advertising platforms. ITVhub operates Planet V—a video SSP, offering access to premium inventory and addressable, first-party data-based audiences of 40+ million users. Since its launch in 2020, it has delivered 28,000+ campaigns for over 1,800 advertisers. Channel 4 has run a Private Marketplace for its All4 channels since 2021. 

Although SVOD and FAST TV apps are also claiming their share. Almost 20 million UK households have a subscription to at least one SVOD service, Kantar estimated. Disney+ leads the pack with a 22% market share, followed by AppleTV+ at 15%, and Netflix, Prime Video, and Paramount at the tail. With all OTT distributors already offering (or soon planning to launch) a cheaper ad-supported tier, more inventory will come to video ad networks. 

CTV measurability, however, remains a sore spot (as it is globally). Brands want greater transparency in ad reach, target environment, and audience engagement. Content Object signals, which can provide a wide array of insights, from information on episode number of parental guidelines, are one option. Per Pubmatic, 82% of UK brands say they’ll spend more with CTV partners offering such data, and 64% are also open to paying a premium price. A standardized taxonomy for metadata sharing appears to be the next critical step for CTV advertising solutions growth in the UK. 

France 

Live linear TV is still the preferred channel in the Hexagon, but habits are changing. 84% of French viewers own either a smart TV or another OTT equipment, pushing adoption rates up. VOD consumption now accounts for 33% of total content consumption, with BVoD and FAST TV apps seizing their slice of the market pie. Over 500 ad-supported TV channels are already available to viewers. 

The country’s largest TV broadcaster, TF1 launched a free streaming platform on Jan 8th, 2024, which will give the CTV advertising market a big boost as TF1+ offers dynamic ad insertion service for live video streaming using server-side technology (SSAI) from Broadpeak. M6+—an equivalent AVOD platform from the second-largest broadcaster also went live in May 2024. 

The two streamers now lure in advertisers with access to authenticated audiences across linear and digital properties, powered by EUID—a European Unified ID identity solution, based on encrypted email data. That’s a bold move to effectively cut off international streamers like Netflix, Roku, and Disney+, who can’t yet offer equal addressability in the market. Other CTV publishers may soon follow, as the adoption of IDs can increase the cost per mile (CPM) value by up to 406%. CTV agency partners, in turn, will be more likely to reallocate spending towards CTV. Especially as the Paris Olympic Games and the men’s Euro football tournament will be driving more viewers to the screen. 

Combined linear and CTV ad revenues are expected to increase by 5% in 2024, to €3.8 billion. Spending on hybrid video-on-demand (HVOD) platforms may surge by 200%, in particular, while linear TV ad spending will go up only 2%. 

Italy 

CTV market penetration in Italy is at 9 million monthly viewers. The majority (74%) are connected via a Smart TV, and 26% use an external device. Although the total audience numbers are smaller, Italian consumers are more engaged. According to New Horizons, 45% of people watch streaming services daily, and another 54% name CTV as their primary way of getting TV. 

A Deloitte survey says 68% pay for at least one streaming service, with young adults being the biggest consumers (89%). However, the growth of new subscribers on SVoD slowed down by 3% last year. Costs are a major factor and a growing number of Italians are switching to AVOD and FAST apps. The estimated market size of FAST channels in Italy is €9 million and growing rapidly. At the end of 2023, Samsung TV+ added 10 new channels. CTV companies like Rakuten, wedotv, and Staccts TV are also adding new channels in Italy. 

Unlike the UK and France, Italy, however, lags in terms of CTV advertising platforms. Programmatic is currently not part of most Italian broadcasters’ CTV offerings and constitutes a small portion of available inventory. Few trades are programmatic and CTV campaign options are clunky, mostly delivered as banner ads connected to a ‘click to watch’ video. 

Addressability is also acute. Media buyers want to use their own data for ad targeting and attribution, plus get better measurements in returns. Broadcasters are slowly working towards making that happen, but clearly there are ample opportunities for bringing better CTV SSP and DSP infrastructure to the country. 

Spain

CTV has momentum going in Spain, with 31 million users, per IAB Spain. The penetration of CTV platforms is also up by 8% from last year, with 6 out of 10 Spaniards, aged 16-75 watching audiovisual content on their Smart TV and another 26%—via an OTT device. Connected TV companies like ATRESplayer, Mitele, Netflix, Tivify, and HBO are used by 81% of households, although younger users prefer Chromecast/Apple TV/Fire TV. 

Generally, seven in ten Spanish households access a video streaming service, ahead of countries such as Germany (53%) and GB (56%). And the numbers keep growing: FAST service usage is up by 15% this year, with services like RTVE Play and Movistar Plus+. 

Audience growth tinders profit uptick: CTV ad revenue was €82.2 million, up by 120% from 2022. On average, Spanish buyers spend  34% of the total campaign’s budget with connected TV advertising companies, says IAB Spain. The main reasons for budding interest: growing viewership (37%), better access to targets (31%), and the technological advance that CTV represents (30%).

Speaking of advantages, Spanish broadcasters offer great AdTech capabilities: Advanced ID solutions, high-precision audience targeting, and new advertising formats. Mediaset Spain created a connected TV ad server with Google that allows managing cross-media campaigns on all platforms (including CTV and HbbTV) via one platform. Adform and Samba TV, in turn, launched advanced CTV targeting capabilities and audience segments for the Spanish market on Adform’s DSP at the start of 2024. The Spanish CTV market is getting quite hot, but the rising buy-side demand will also create more opportunities for new entrants. 

APAC

With its young, digital-savvy population, APAC is a booming CTV market. The region had 541 million SVOD subscribers in 2021 and is set to cross the 746 million mark by 2027. 

In 2023, online SVOD grew 15% in 2023 to $28 billion, according to MPA. AVOD grew 11% to $29 billion. Pay TV subscriptions are flatlining with revenue declining in markets like India and Japan. On the other hand, 71% of TV viewers in Japan watch ad-supported streaming, while 80% of Indians opt for FAST TV channels over SVOD services. 

Eight OTT companies captured 65% of online video revenue in APAC in 2023: Amazon Prime Video, ByteDance (including TikTok), Disney, YouTube, iQIYI, Meta, Netflix, and Tencent. The competition between local and international CTV companies has been fierce. 

Disney+, overtook Netflix in India in 2020 by market share but lost an estimated 15 million subscribers because of split broadcasting rights to the Indian Premier League tournament.  Amazon Prime, in turn, had to pedal back on original content production for APAC due to low-profit margins and high competition.  

For Netflix, APAC drove 80% new paid subscribers last year and the streamer keeps a hawkish focus on the region. Local players are also scaling successfully like Jio Cinema (with a $0.35 ad-supported tier) and Zee in India; Kayo and Nine SVOD platforms in Australia, and FAST TV apps TVer and U-Next in Japan. 

By 2027, the region may account for 44% of the global SVOD market. India alone may add 92 million new subscribers to the market by the same year. 

Connected TV advertising revenues are also climbing up: APAC saw a 164% YoY growth in open programmatic CTV ad spend in 2023. In Australia, CTV ad revenue is expected to hit $33.2 billion in 2024 and China is on track to pass the $52 billion mark. Hulu was the top-grossing CTV app in Q1 2024, with $334K in open programmatic ad spend on Fire TV.

As 70% of consumers in the region prefer ad-supported streaming, the CTV programmatic market will continue to proliferate with new branded OTT experiences coming to the screens. Paramount rolled out shoppable TV ads in Australia. 

Yet, the region struggles with high ad fraud volumes. The invalid traffic (IVT) rate for programmatic CTV was 29% in Q1 2024, up by 11% from Q4 2023. CTV advertising companies, entering the region, must invest in advanced AdTech fraud detection and prevention software. 

North America 

The US remains one of the biggest CTV advertising markets. Spending is expected to reach $30.10 billion in 2024, up by 22.4% from last year. Roku holds the largest market share (48%), with Samsung, Amazon, Apple, and LG slicing the rest of the market. 

Subscription-wise, 99% of all U.S. households pay for at least one streaming service, although 45% have also canceled at least one subscription due to rising living costs, according to Forbes.  

At the same time, over half of US households watch FAST TV at least once per week. The choice is good too: Over 1,900 unique FAST TV channels are available. AVOD services are expected to drive growth in the OTT market this year. With almost every major streamer now offering a cheaper ad-supported tier, revenues are set to increase from $27 billion in 2022 to $43 billion by 2027. 

High adoption rates translated to massive CTV advertising reach: 97% of US households can be reached via open programmatic CTV ads in Q1 2024. Although 76% of CTV ad views across the US were generated via private deals. There is, however, cautious optimism about CTV open exchanges as new video advertising platforms enter the market. OpenX launched a biddable programmatic CTV marketplace in 2023. Roku also unlocked access to its premium inventory through its programmatic CTV platform in June 2024. 

On the other hand, CTV publishers are also sweetening the PMP deals with improved measurability and data enrichment. Advertisers on NBCUniversal can now use  Instacart’s first-party data for ad targeting and measurement. Disney signed a similar deal with Walmart Connect. Roku partnered with The Trade Desk to provide buyers with better CTV metrics, 

With the cookieless future fast approaching advertisers are seeking to put their first-party data to better use. OTT developers have a great chance to capitalize on this momentum and capture more ad dollars by launching first-party-based targeting. Doing so can also help address another pressing problem of ad fraud. About 45% of Fortune 500 brands pay for ads on fake or divisive CTV channels. 

LATAM 

LATAM is another CTV market to watch. CTV has already reached 41% of LATAM viewers (about 150 million people), per Comscore. Although Smart TV ownership is lower compared to other regions, Latinos tune in via mobile and PC devices. 

Similar to APAC and Europeans, most LATAM viewers prefer ad-supported streaming: 83% are watching content with ads for about 15 hours each week, per Magnite. Moreover, 71% of SVOD viewers are open to switching to ad-based streaming services. Overall, the hours of viewing across FAST channels in the LATAM increased by 65% over the past year. ViX, Pluto TV, and DistroTV are among the most popular FAST apps. However, SVOD platforms will also keep growing and amass 131 million subscriptions in the region by 2026, of which 37% will be Netflix, 25% will be Disney+, and 15% will be Amazon Prime. 

High viewership also keeps the LATAM CTV ad market on an upward trajectory. CTV ad spending increased 60% YoY, per Pixalate, with ViX attracting over $15 million in ad revenues. LATAM viewers like engaging with CTV ads: 31% search for advertised products, 24% talk about the ad, and 15% buy one shortly, per Comscore. 

Still, challenges remain with CTV SSP management and render rates. High device fragmentation and lack of transparency in the local AdTech supply chains lead to low render rates, undercutting publishers’ profits. Local broadcasters are also yet to launch their own OTT advertising infrastructure, with many deals done manually. So, white label CTV advertising solutions have a good chance of entering this market. 

Takeaways

CTV viewership rates are growing at double digits in every global region. The rising cost of living and greater content diversification are also enticing more people to try ad-supported streaming and FAST apps. 

Advertisers recognize this shift, with spending on CTV campaigns up 22.4% in the US, 164% in APAC, and 60% in LATAM. 

Whether you’re looking to enter the market with custom OTT solutions or new AdTech infrastructure to facilitate CTV ad trades, the timing is great!