CTV (Connected TV) Advertising Statistics 2025: The Complete Guide

Connected TV advertising is experiencing explosive growth, with spending jumping 16% year-over-year in 2024 and projected to reach $32.57 billion in 2025. CTV ads deliver exceptional performance with 90–98% completion rates, 23% higher ROI than traditional TV, and cross-device attribution capabilities that make them essential for modern marketers. This comprehensive guide covers the latest statistics, performance benchmarks, and strategic insights every advertiser needs to know about CTV advertising.

Growth in CTV Ad Spend (2024–2025)

The connected TV advertising market is experiencing unprecedented expansion as viewers shift from traditional television to streaming platforms. Multiple indicators point to CTV becoming the dominant force in video advertising.

Robust Double-Digit Growth

CTV advertising spend jumped 16% year-over-year in 2024, marking a strong rebound after slower growth in 2023.

Long-Term Market Transformation

Industry analysts estimate U.S. CTV ad spending will hit $32.57 billion in 2025, nearly double its 2021 level. This puts CTV ad investment roughly 43% higher than online video spend by 2025, cementing its position as the fastest-growing ad channel.

Marketer Investment Priorities

The shift in advertiser sentiment is equally compelling. A majority of marketers worldwide (56%) plan to boost their OTT/CTV budgets in 2025, up from 53% in 2024. Even more telling, over two-thirds (68%) of advertisers now consider CTV “essential” in their media plans, reflecting high confidence in the channel’s ROI potential.

This dramatic growth trajectory makes CTV advertising a critical component of any comprehensive paid media strategy.

Average Completion Rate for CTV Ads

One of CTV advertising’s most compelling advantages is its exceptional video completion rates, far surpassing other digital channels.

Near-Universal Completion Rates

Connected TV ads boast completion rates in the 90–98% range on average. A 15-second CTV commercial achieves about a 94.5% completion rate, while even 30-second ads see approximately 96% completion. These rates are possible because most CTV ads are non-skippable and viewed on the “big screen” in a lean-back environment.

Dramatic Performance Advantage

These CTV completion rates dwarf those on other platforms. YouTube ads average only 20–40% completion, while social video ads often fall below 30%. The nearly uninterrupted viewing experience on CTV means brands can confidently use longer 15–30 second spots knowing viewers will finish them, which significantly boosts ad recall and impact.

Strategic Implications

High completion rates translate directly to better campaign performance. Unlike mobile or desktop video, where advertisers pay for impressions but lose viewers after a few seconds, CTV ensures your entire message reaches the audience. This makes every dollar more effective and provides better brand storytelling opportunities.

Viewability and Attention Metrics

Beyond completion rates, CTV advertising delivers superior viewability and viewer attention compared to other media channels.

Superior Viewability Standards

CTV ads achieve 90%+ viewability rates since they occupy the full TV screen in a less cluttered environment. Unlike web-based video ads that can be “below the fold” or hidden, CTV ads are rarely obscured except when TVs are turned off.

Enhanced Attention Duration

Viewers devote significantly more attention to CTV ads. Research shows CTV commercials hold viewer attention approximately 8× longer than mobile ads and 16× longer than desktop ads on average. This suggests audiences not only see CTV ads but actively watch them for extended periods.

Improving Attention Metrics

Industry attention scores continue rising for CTV. The average CTV ad attention rate reached 51.5% in early 2024, surpassing most other digital formats. An attention index from analytics firm Adelaide showed CTV’s attention score jumping from 57.5 to 69.5 (out of 100) between 2023 and 2024, far exceeding online video or display ads.

These metrics demonstrate that CTV commands both viewability and viewer focus, dramatically improving the chances that ad messages resonate effectively with audiences.

Audience Demographics for CTV Platforms

Connected TV has achieved mainstream adoption across demographic groups, though usage patterns vary by age cohort.

Widespread Market Penetration

Nearly 70% of the U.S. population will watch CTV content by 2025, with about 85% of households having at least one connected TV device. Streaming through CTV has become ubiquitous across age groups, including older generations who initially resisted the shift from traditional television.

Youth Leading Adoption

Younger cohorts drive the heaviest CTV engagement. Nielsen data shows U.S. teens (13–18) increased their CTV viewing by 20% in 2023, with over 80% now streaming video through CTV devices. Millennials represent the single largest segment with an estimated 62.6 million viewers in 2025, closely followed by Gen Z with about 56 million viewers.

Notably, 82% of Gen Z and Millennials report watching ad-supported CTV weekly, often preferring free streaming services over traditional TV subscriptions.

Growing Older Adult Participation

CTV adoption extends beyond young demographics. A 2024 survey found 76% of Baby Boomers use CTV platforms, representing about 32 million viewers. While this is a smaller absolute number, it represents significant penetration within that generation.

This broad demographic reach means CTV advertising can effectively target diverse age and household groups, though the heaviest usage and cord-cutting behavior remains concentrated in adults under 50.

CTV vs. Linear TV Ad ROI

Connected TV advertising consistently delivers superior return on investment compared to traditional linear television, making it an increasingly attractive option for performance-focused marketers.

Higher ROI Performance

Analyses demonstrate that CTV ad campaigns generate about 23% higher ROI than equivalent linear TV campaigns on average. This performance advantage stems from CTV’s ability to target specific households more accurately, reducing wasted impressions, and track conversions in near-real-time for optimization.

Digital Channel Superiority

Beyond traditional TV, CTV also outperforms many digital media channels. Market mix modeling by Analytic Partners found streaming TV ads deliver ~30% stronger ROI than the average advertising channel. One analysis revealed that brands allocating just 7% of their budget to CTV saw those dollars produce 30% higher returns than other spending, suggesting significant opportunities to scale investment.

Strategic Advantages

CTV’s superior ROI results from combining TV-like impact with digital precision. Advertisers can maintain the emotional resonance and brand-building power of television while gaining the targeting accuracy and measurement capabilities of digital advertising. This combination makes CTV a high-ROI channel for marketers seeking both reach and efficiency.

For businesses considering programmatic advertising approaches, CTV represents an ideal testing ground for advanced targeting and optimization strategies.

Cost per Completed View (CPCV) Benchmarks

Cost-per-completed-view serves as a key efficiency metric for video advertising, and CTV delivers competitive pricing for fully watched ads.

Efficient Pricing Structure

The average cost per completed view on CTV ranges from $0.012 to $0.020 (1.2 to 2 cents) in 2024. This pricing is based on campaign data for skippable CTV ads where payment ties directly to completions, similar to YouTube’s TrueView model.

Competitive Market Position

CTV’s CPCV compares favorably to other video platforms. YouTube’s video ad CPCV historically ranged about $0.01–$0.027, putting CTV in a similar ballpark or slightly more cost-efficient in many cases. Even non-skippable premium CTV inventory bought on a CPM basis effectively delivers completed views at low cost because completion rates are exceptionally high.

Value Proposition

Brands can obtain a fully completed CTV ad view for one or two pennies in most cases. This low CPCV, combined with television-level impact, represents a major value proposition for shifting budgets into connected TV. While actual prices vary by targeting parameters, inventory quality, and seasonality, CTV consistently offers cost-effective completed views compared to other video advertising options.

This efficiency makes CTV particularly attractive for businesses managing Google Ads campaigns who want to extend their video marketing reach beyond traditional platforms.

Best Performing CTV Formats (Pre-roll, Mid-roll, etc.)

Different CTV ad placements within streaming content offer distinct performance characteristics, allowing advertisers to optimize based on campaign objectives.

Pre-roll Performance

Pre-roll ads that play before streaming content excel at grabbing attention and maximizing completion rates. Viewers are most attentive at this point, making pre-rolls ideal for brand awareness campaigns. However, pre-rolls sometimes show lower conversion rates (approximately 3.15%) since viewers haven’t yet engaged with the content. The key benefit is nearly universal message delivery, making pre-roll excellent for broad reach and recall building.

Mid-roll Effectiveness

Mid-roll ads inserted during natural content breaks often perform best in terms of engagement and recall. Research shows mid-roll placements yield about 27% message recall rates, slightly higher than pre-roll’s 24%. They also drive significantly more action, with mid-roll CTV ads achieving 16.95% conversion rates versus only 3.15% for pre-roll ads.

The superior performance stems from viewers already being invested in the content, making mid-rolls feel like natural pauses similar to traditional TV commercial breaks.

Post-roll Opportunities

Post-roll ads that play after the content conclusion can capitalize on engaged viewers who completed their shows. These ads don’t interrupt programming, making them feel non-disruptive while offering opportunities for interactive elements like clickable QR codes, surveys, or product carousels. Post-rolls work ideally for direct-response objectives and capturing intent from the most motivated audience segment.

Strategic Format Selection

In practice, mid-roll ads serve as the workhorse on ad-supported streaming services, similar to traditional TV ad breaks. However, a strategic mix of formats can optimize campaigns: pre-roll builds awareness with guaranteed views, mid-roll maximizes retention and impact, and post-roll captures high-intent actions from engaged viewers.

Cross-Device Attribution Stats

CTV advertising’s digital nature enables sophisticated cross-device attribution, allowing marketers to track customer journeys from TV ad exposure to conversions on other devices.

Widespread Attribution Adoption

Approximately 70% of advertisers now use cross-device dashboards or attribution tools to evaluate their CTV campaigns alongside other channels. This means the majority are linking data from TVs, mobile devices, and desktops to get unified views of how CTV ads contribute to conversions.

Closed-Loop Tracking Capabilities

Unlike traditional TV, CTV provides digital-like tracking through closed-loop attribution systems. Many streaming ad platforms and demand-side platforms (DSPs) offer capabilities where offline or online outcomes—website visits, app installs, purchases—can be directly tied back to households that received CTV ads. This enables precise ROI measurement previously impossible with linear television.

Holistic Marketing Impact

Cross-device analysis reveals that CTV ads often assist other marketing channels. Studies show that 32% higher total reach is achieved by using linear TV and CTV together, and 65% of marketers report that integrating CTV led to increased sales alongside other paid channels.

However, only about 32% of marketers currently measure media holistically across TV and digital platforms, indicating significant room for improvement. Advanced attribution tools are rapidly evolving to bridge this measurement gap, giving advertisers greater confidence in CTV’s cross-device contributions.

For businesses seeking comprehensive measurement approaches, professional digital marketing consulting can help implement robust attribution frameworks that capture CTV’s full impact across customer touchpoints.

Top CTV Streaming Platforms by Ad Reach

The CTV advertising landscape centers around several key platforms and devices that deliver the broadest audience reach for advertisers.

YouTube’s CTV Dominance

YouTube represents the single largest ad-supported service on connected TVs, with an estimated 68.8% of its 248.6 million U.S. viewers watching on CTV devices. This translates to roughly 171 million people watching YouTube on TV screens monthly, making YouTube (including YouTube TV) essential for advertisers seeking scale on CTV platforms.

Leading AVOD/FAST Services

Beyond YouTube, the ad-supported streaming landscape includes major platforms like Hulu, Amazon’s Freevee and Prime Video, Disney+ (with ads), Max, Peacock, Paramount+, Tubi, and Pluto TV. These collectively reach tens of millions of viewers, with Hulu and Prime Video each serving well over 100 million U.S. viewers, and a large portion consuming content on televisions.

Free ad-supported TV (FAST) platforms like Pluto and Tubi are particularly popular for reaching cord-cutters, with over 47% of U.S. households engaging with FAST services weekly in 2024.

Device Platform Leadership

On the device side, Roku leads CTV ad delivery, accounting for about 44% of all U.S. CTV ad impressions in early 2023, far outpacing Amazon’s Fire TV at approximately 16%. Other smart TV ecosystems (Samsung Tizen, LG WebOS), game consoles, and streaming devices make up the remainder.

Market Share Trends

Streaming platforms collectively captured about 43% of total TV time by 2025, with Netflix and YouTube each individually surpassing 20% share of TV usage in certain months. This trend underscores that the largest television audiences are increasingly reachable only through CTV/OTT platforms, making top streaming services critical for brand reach strategies.

Impact of CTV Ads on Brand Awareness

Connected TV advertising combines television’s sight-and-sound impact with digital targeting precision, delivering measurable brand awareness and recall improvements.

Significant Brand Lift Results

CTV campaigns consistently drive notable increases in upper-funnel marketing metrics. The Video Advertising Bureau found CTV campaigns delivered around a 20% lift in brand awareness on average, along with a 15% lift in brand consideration and a 10% lift in purchase intent. These gains significantly exceed typical digital ad performance, approaching traditional TV impact levels.

Superior Recall Performance

A Comscore study demonstrated that CTV advertising led to a 25% lift in both brand awareness and ad recall, outperforming typical online video benchmarks. Viewers tend to remember CTV ads more effectively, likely due to the full-screen, immersive experience and higher completion rates that ensure message delivery.

Synergy with Traditional TV

Rather than cannibalizing traditional television effects, connected TV often complements linear TV campaigns. Brands running both linear TV and CTV see incremental reach and reinforced messaging that boosts awareness further. CTV serves as a key vehicle for reaching light TV viewers or cord-cutters who can’t be reached through traditional television alone.

Advertiser Confidence Metrics

Industry sentiment reflects strong confidence in CTV for brand building. About 69% of advertisers say CTV is a “must-buy” in their media mix, and 84% believe CTV delivers better targeting capabilities than linear TV. Additionally, 57% of consumers report preferring ads on streaming TV over traditional TV ads, often due to lighter ad loads and greater relevance.

This positive reception suggests audiences are more receptive to CTV advertising, creating favorable conditions for brand impact and recall.

For companies developing comprehensive brand awareness strategies, integrating CTV with broader social media marketing efforts can amplify reach and frequency across multiple touchpoints.

Key Takeaways for CTV Advertising Success

The statistics clearly demonstrate that Connected TV advertising represents a transformative opportunity for modern marketers. With 16% year-over-year growth, 90–98% completion rates, and 23% higher ROI than traditional TV, CTV combines the best elements of television’s impact with digital advertising’s precision and measurement capabilities.

The platform’s broad demographic reach—from Gen Z’s heavy streaming habits to Baby Boomers’ growing adoption—means CTV can effectively target diverse audiences while delivering superior viewability and attention metrics. Cross-device attribution capabilities provide the measurement sophistication that traditional TV advertising lacks, enabling optimization and ROI justification that wasn’t previously possible.

As streaming platforms continue capturing television viewing time and CTV ad spend approaches $33 billion in 2025, early adopters gain significant competitive advantages. The combination of cost-effective completed views (1–2 cents), flexible format options, and proven brand awareness lift makes CTV an essential component of comprehensive digital advertising strategies.

Ready to harness the power of CTV advertising for your business? SEO Design Chicago’s paid media experts can help you develop and execute connected TV campaigns that deliver measurable results. Contact us today for a free consultation and discover how CTV advertising can transform your marketing performance.