IAB: Connected TV Advertising Will Rise 39% to $21.2 Billion

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Video ad buyers call CTV a ‘must buy’

A family watches content on multiple screens in their living room.
(Image credit: Eric Audras/Getty Images)

Connected TV is expected to fuel strong growth in digital video advertising spending this year, according to a new outlook from the IAB.

While digital video ad spending is seen growing 26% to $49.2 billion in 2022, CTV is expected to increase 39% to $21.2 billion. CTV spending increased 57% last year and has more than doubled between 2020 and 2022.

In a survey, 76% of video buyers called CTV a “must buy” in their media planning budgets.

Also: DoubleVerify CEO Sees Netflix Growing CTV Advertising By 50%

Buyers said that CTV enables them to leverage first-party brand data, location data and shopping data in ways they can’t with traditional linear TV. They also said that CTV was more effective in creating consumer activity and enhancing brand perception.

Digital Video CTV Ad Spend Chart

(Image credit: IAB)

CTV is also more transparent than other forms of digital video with respect to buyers knowing where ads ran.

While CTV will account for 36% of total time spent with linear TV and CTV in 2022, the report noted, CTV gets only an 18% share of video ad dollars.

Also: Scripps Leads New Station Group Aiming To Bring Political Ads to CTV

Buyers said issues that make CTV buying more difficult than it has to be include problems measuring incremental reach across publishers and platforms, managing frequency across platforms and publishers, a lack of transparency and interoperability within walled gardens and fragmentation of programmatic supply paths.

Many buyers see the market for linear TV and CTV converging, which would make their lives easier. Already, 66% of buyers said they have a single team planning linear TV and CTV campaigns and another 25% expect to have that in the future.

“Digital video is a driving force for buyers and will continue to be in 2022,” said Eric John, VP of the IAB Media Center. “However while CTV leads the substantial growth of digital video ad spend, the amount of dollars currently allocated to CTV is not proportionate to the amount of viewer time spent with the channel. The time is now for brands and buyers to follow consumer attention.”

The IAB’s report was released at the NewFronts in conjunction with Standard Media Index and Advertiser Perceptions. ■

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.