10 September

CTV, OTT and Linear TV: Pros and Cons

With the advertising industry changing at lightning-fast speeds, it can be challenging to keep up with the trends.

But you can’t afford to be out of the loop on what’s working for your particular industry and knowing which channels to use to reach your audience.

Learn more about the pros and cons of Connected TV (CTV), Over-the-Top (OTT) content, and
Linear TV.

Types of Advertising
First, let’s define each type of advertising.

1. Connected TV (CTV)
CTV is a device that connects to – or is embedded in – a television to support video content streaming or an internet connection. This includes internet enabled televisions (smart TVs) or any of the number of devices that can connect to a television to facilitate a stream – including but not limited to Xbox, Roku, PlayStation, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV.

2. Over-the-Top (OTT)
OTT is any content that can be streamed over the internet facilitated by an aggregator or publisher app. Audiences can watch this type of content without having a cable or satellite subscription. Instead, they use the internet to watch video or TV content through platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sling, YouTube TV or Hulu. In summary, OTT content can be viewed on CTV devices.

3. Linear TV
Linear TV, or traditional TV, is what you would think of as programming that you would watch through cable, satellite or antenna TV. This is content that is not streamed and cannot be viewed on demand.

Pros and Cons for Advertising on CTV, OTT and Linear TV

Pros: CTV & OTT

  • Both CTV and OTT offer unique advantages for advertising, such as:
  • Advertisers can pinpoint their campaigns to get in front of highly specific audiences.
  • It allows you access to data for cross-screen targeting to generate multiple known touchpoints with the end consumer.
  • You can also access 1st and 3rd party data for further targeting capabilities.
  • Younger audiences make up a vast majority of users, so if you want to reach this segment, CTV and OTT are the way to go.

 

Cons: CTV & OTT

  • The number of users for CTV and OTT is growing; however, it’s not as large as cable or broadcast TV which can make it more expensive to buy effectively.
  • Right now, IP-based targeting is limited, because matching IP addresses to cookies or mobile ad IDs is not possible.
  • Account sharing also hinders targeting at times.

 

Pros: Linear TV

  • This medium currently represents the largest market.
  • Advertisers can make media buys using automation and data.
  • You can apply 1st and 3rd party data to your advertising decisions.
  • Niche TV networks exist, which can make advertising on these stations more cost effective with an increased reach.
  • This type of advertising is ideal for targeting live events.

 

Cons: Linear TV

  • As time goes on, possible reach is becoming fragmented due to the growth that is expected in CTV and OTT.
  • Audience targeting is difficult due to policies that are out of date.
  • The data that’s available for targeting ads is very broad.

 

There are benefits to advertising on CTV, OTT and Linear TV. The key is to work with an expert who can help you determine which blend of programming platforms will help you best reach your targeted audience, and also suits your business’ goals and budget.

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