While linear ads still outperform for viewer attention, ads on premium CTV apps have now bested the channel, according to DoubleVerify and TVision.
CTV has continued to gather momentum from marketers, and DoubleVerify and TVision’s “State of CTV Advertising Report” indicate that those ad dollars may be well spent. CTV ad attention increased by 2.3% in Q1 compared to the prior quarter. In contrast, ad attention on premium CTV apps — which offer an ad-supported and ad-free subscription model — saw an even more significant increase from 51.7% in Q4 2023 to 56.1% in Q1. Meanwhile, linear ad attention saw more modest gains, landing at 54.5% in Q1 versus 54% during the quarter prior, a potential sign that attention to CTV ads may soon trump that of its more traditional counterpart.
“Each quarter, we see advancements in CTV advertising – in terms of reach and scale but also terms of attention and engagement from viewers,” said Yan Liu, CEO of TVision, in a statement.
According to the report, CTV ad volume has continued to increase, with “more CTV advertising happening now than ever before.” Industries with significant increases in ad spend in Q1 2024 versus the year-ago period include education, electronics, and consumer products. The report also identified that, predictably, government and political ads saw the largest increase as we approach the upcoming election.
Most households in the first quarter tuned in to three or fewer CTV apps and did so on more than two devices. While the number of apps accessed was fairly comparable across all income levels, the report found that lower-income houses were significantly more likely to use ten or more apps than higher-income households. Reach by app was led by Netflix (64%), YouTube (57%), Hulu (41%), and Prime Video (34%), and YouTube, Netflix, and YouTube TV all increased their share of time viewing during the period.
The study found that consumer attention to ads varies by their position in a pod or the grouping of ads played back to back, with the first ad in a pod performing best across both linear and CTV. For CTV, the last ad played in a pod captures more attention than the middle ad, at 50.7% and 48.3%, respectively. For linear, the middle and last ads in the pod are comparable for their ability to capture attention at 53.4% and 53.5%, respectively. Pod duration also matters: On CTV, shorter ad breaks, classified as 60 seconds or less, secure the highest levels of attention, regardless of the length of the ad.
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CTV ad attentiveness also varies by time of day, with engagement steadily increasing throughout the day before peaking at primetime, or the time between what the report titles as “early fringe” and “late night.” However, the report states that the most opportune time of day for exposure is early morning, with primetime and late night being the least favorable times.
Data for the CTV report was gathered from Jan. 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024 from 5,000 homes across the U.S., unless otherwise indicated within the findings.
