The amount of advertising inventory on content being streamed to connected devices has jumped as viewers access programming for sources other than the biggest subscription video on demand services, according to Beachfront Media, a supply-side advertising platform.
Beachfront CEO Frank Sinton says in its third-quarter study, his platform saw more than 2 billion video views on connected TV in the third quarter and that ad buys are up 300 percent to 400%.
Despite the increase in inventory, Sinton says ad prices are holding steady with prices staying in the $25 to $30 range on a cost per thousand viewers (CPM) basis.
Sinton says viewing—and inventory—have increased as connected devices give viewers access to services that go beyond the leaders, such as Netflix, Hulu and Pandora.
“There wasn’t a long tail at all in connected TV. It was really about the top apps,” he says. “But what we’re seeing is there’s more of an ecosystem now.”
The beneficiaries include over-the-top streaming video apps such as WatchMojo, Newsy and Crunchyroll.
These apps provide premium content that is brand-safe for advertisers.
Connected TV is also attractive to advertisers because ads on the platform have 97% completion rates and offer 100% viewability, eliminating an issue that concerns some advertisers about digital video.
“That to me is the most exciting part, that we can hit these advertiser KPI’s [key performance indicators] and hopefully they’ll keep buying it.”
An obstacle to growth in advertising on connected devices is the lack of standardized measurement, Sinton said.
Despite that, he expected to see more television buyers coming to connected to TV.
“They know the audience is shifting, so they need to go where the audience is,” Sinton says.
