For the first time, streaming TV viewership surpassed both cable and broadcast combined in May 2025, with Connected TV (CTV) accounting for 44.8% of total TV viewing in the U.S.
Variety
Whether this milestone is an anomaly remains to be seen—will it hold through the NFL, NHL, and the fall broadcast debut season? Either way, this massive market penetration can’t be ignored. It represents a game-changing opportunity for small- to medium-sized agencies and local advertisers to capitalize on this powerful revenue stream.
Yet many remain hesitant, bogged down by measurement misgivings, separation of premium platforms, or caught up in the data complexity. But the truth is, they’re wasting too much time wading through the weeds.
It’s time to move past the minutiae. CTV is one of the fastest-growing, yet most underutilized media channels for smaller brands and budgets. Here’s how to make it part of every “big screen” strategy.
Wider Reach, Smarter Budget
With CTV, advertisers can reach some 58% of US internet-connected households, or roughly 67 million homes, with a fraction of the budget traditional TV requires.
Parks Associates
Beyond its affordability, massive adoption, and audience reach, CTV offers the best of both worlds, combining the storytelling power of traditional television advertising with the targeting and measurability of digital ads. The big screen format engages audiences with compelling audio and video content to create a more present, immersive experience. This ability to capture attention alongside the viewer segmentation and attribution capabilities to measure intent, conversion, or even sales, makes CTV the perfect recipe for audience engagement.
Success Comes From Strategy, Not Just Media Mix
For advertisers looking to combine TV and CTV in a big screen strategy, the natural question is, “What’s the right mix?” At Brkthru, our honest answer is: It depends. The audience, their media habits, your campaign goals, KPIs, and even geography (including streaming adoption by ZIP code or DMA) all play a role.
But unlike the early days of CTV, we now have the data to make those decisions more confidently. Thanks to household graphing and device-level attribution, marketers can see where their audience is watching, how often, and on what device, and tailor their campaigns accordingly.
Is it perfect? No. But it’s enough to make smart decisions and plan your budget responsibly. Not to mention, the beauty of CTV is that you can pivot placements and adjust buys on the fly to optimize results.
Don’t Let Fragmentation Cloud the Strategy
Certainly, the TV-CTV landscape is fragmented and that raises concerns about duplication and frequency. It’s true that the various delivery and measurement platforms don’t always integrate well, which can create blind spots and risk overlapping impressions.
But the combination of thoughtful strategy, savvy targeting and modern measurement tools can reduce that overlap to as low as 1–3%. By integrating set-top box and CTV data, we can minimize the overlap and arrive at an effective targeting and measurement strategy with demonstrable results. That means marketers can still create effective, data-driven campaigns that control frequency and reduce waste.
Measurement technology has evolved dramatically over the last few years and will continue to improve rapidly. Don’t let minor unknowns stop you from capitalizing on the CTV opportunity now. Instead, work with experts who understand the limitations and leverage the most effective tools to optimize based on what we do know.
Performance and Awareness Both Matter
A common misconception is that big-screen CTV is only good for awareness campaigns—that it mimics traditional TV’s impression metrics. But modern measurement and attribution technologies offer so much more. Performance TV strategies can reveal household and even individual-level KPIs, allowing in-home CTV to drive revenue at every stage of the funnel: from brand awareness and website visits to even physical store foot traffic and actual purchases.
How? Because it doesn’t just measure impressions. CTV tracks view-through conversions—whether someone saw the full ad and later took action. That’s a level of attribution linear TV has never been able to offer.
It’s the Message, AND the Medium
While ad placement is a big decision, ad content still matters just as much in a CTV strategy. The same proven principles of marketing and advertising apply: Creative and emotional resonance matter more than ever.
Studies show that the lean back experience of ads viewed on larger screens drive stronger engagement, which in turn boosts retention and conversion rates.
In other words, CTV gives marketers a big screen format with the precision of digital. That means CTV success hinges as much on storytelling as targeting. A beautifully shot, emotionally charged 30-second ad can both inspire and convert without a Super Bowl-size ad budget.
Don’t Let Uncertainty Stop You
Marketers have always faced uncertainty, from shifting media consumption and evolving privacy regulations to measurement blind spots. But the opportunity cost of inaction with CTV is rising.
CTV ad spend in the U.S. is expected to hit $26.6 billion in 2025, up 13% over 2024, making it the top “must buy” channel among advertisers.
StreamTV Insider
The bottom line: Brands can’t afford to wait. Inventory is expanding, and the viewership is already there. Premium content is opening new doors, and analytics tools are improving every day. Instead of waiting for perfection and hesitating over the still-unknowns, lean into what we already know CTV can do: build brand equity, drive measurable outcomes, and provide agility on a budget that’s scalable for businesses of any size.
©2025 DK New Media, LLC, All rights reserved | DisclosureOriginally Published on Martech Zone: Buying Into CTV Is a Start—But Consumption Demands More