What is advertising on streaming TV?

Streaming television advertising, or interchangeably connected TV (CTV) advertising, involves delivering ads throughout over-the-top (OTT) video content. As CTV becomes a regular part of television viewing habits in US households, advertisers have had to pivot to include CTV advertising into their marketing mix.

Advertising on streaming TV differs from linear TV advertising in many ways. For starters, CTV advertising usually comes at a lower cost because it is measured on a cost per thousand/impression, or CPM, basis. This means that there is a very low financial barrier to entry, and it allows advertisers to frequently test and learn before investing a larger portion of their ad budget into any CTV campaign.

Secondly, streaming TV allows advertisers to granularly target audiences based on data provided by the host platforms. Keywords, area or zip code, DMA, interests, and viewing habits are just some first party data sets that streaming platforms gather through an automatic content recognition system (ACR) and deliver to advertising buying services. These services then work with your brand to harness this data and set specific TV audience targeting goals.

With our TV+® platform for TV planning and buying, Simulmedia takes a unique, truly cross-channel approach, leaving no stone unturned across linear TV or CTV – wherever your target audiences are watching. While streaming, or CTV, advertising is still at an early stage (relative to TV’s history), engagement is progressing at a rapid pace. For example, eMarketer reported that a whopping 213.7 million people in the U.S. used the internet through a CTV device at least monthly throughout 2021. The results exceeded expectations as driven by stay-from-home lifestyles have taken more root (particularly during the pandemic).

​​With direct integrations with over 250 broadcast, cable and CTV networks and publishers, TV+ fulfills an industry-wide need for a true holistic national buying platform, one that reflects how viewers actually watch – and stream – television today in an increasingly fragmented landscape.

​​TV+’s patented technology accurately predicts the spots that will deliver the most incremental audience reach in a cost-effective manner, ensuring minimal waste and guaranteed impression delivery that advertisers can rely on for their campaigns on both linear and streaming TV.

With access to viewers across 120 million U.S. households, TV+ makes it easy for national advertisers to confidently execute audience-based media buys across the entire linear and streaming TV landscape with speed that no one else can deliver.