The Audience For CTV Advertising: Demographics And Viewership Trends

In our previous articles about connected TV, you had the chance to learn all about the latest CTV trends and the shift from traditional to digitized televising. However, we haven't written much about the audience since it requires a new article.

To the untrained eye, it may look like the audience of CTV is a young, digital native crowd. But as technology evolves, CTV becomes more and more accepted in various households across the world. According to Innovid’s 2021 Benchmark Report we are watching video content via CTV more than we watch it with mobile devices, and this statistic really require our attention.

So let's see who is really watching CTV and who will be watching your ads on it.

CTV viewership and demographics across continents

Demographic and viewership of CTV is constantly growing as people with different social and economic backgrounds are switching to digitized television. So, let's explore how different continents accept CTV as an advertising channel.

Europe CTV market is facing subscription fatigue

According to Advertising Week, four out of five households watch CTV in Europe. 

As you can see from the image below, Spain has the most significant rate of adoption of CTV in the old continent. Still, Italians, Brits, Russians, and Germans are also glued to their smart TVs.

The good news for advertisers in Europe is the existing subscription fatigue. It means that they are not interested as much to pay their subscriptions anymore, and it is pushing the viewers more to ad-supported video content. The bad news is that this is not yet an established market as it is in the USA, so buyers must work through PMP markets. 

USA CTV demographics are promising‍

This market is well established, and as we mentioned above, you can buy inventory through the open market. Another astonishing thing is that according to eMarketer, two-thirds of the whole US population is connected to CTV. So even though Netflix and similar Ad-free services are still very popular, half of the audience is also watching streaming videos supported by ads. This makes this market huge for advertisers.

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The Middle East and Africa connected TV market is slowly growing

In Africa, the digital TV audience exceeded the live TV audience in 2020, and the gap is widening each year. Currently, we are seeing moderate growth, but a Cirfax analysis predicts that by 2027, this industry will have a significant absolute $ potential worth. 

Asian CTV market requires localization

In the Asian CTV market, just like in the European, the most significant advantage will be the ability to localize content created for CTV and to take into consideration all the differences in individual markets across this continent. Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam represent an exciting opportunity for advertisers, as these countries are now ready for enhanced advertising. In addition, subscription fatigue is present in the Asian market as well, bringing ad-supported video content closer to a broader audience.

Success of the Australian CTV market 

In 2021, investing in CTV advertising in Australia was very successful. The IAB Australia expenditure report showed how video advertising outperforms the general display market. Australian broadcasters were fast to embrace the shift from traditional to connected television. As a result, they took a commanding position regarding AVOD (ad-supported video on demand) options. 

The only thing we should be aware of in this market, but also in markets globally, is the fact that fraud is following ad spending even with CTV. However, with premium publishers and closed-app ecosystems, vendors can detect a harmless amount of invalid traffic.

Types of people who watch CTV

Sociology professors call these types "ideal types" since they are representative of the behaviors of a massive amount of people. Marketers call them buyer personas. According to research conducted by SpotX, we can mark four different types of people watching CTV. However in the global society, you will come across all kinds of different consumers of CTV content, but these four are most common ones.

Also consider that these types may vary from country to country while creating campaigns. Another thing to keep on top of you mind is A/B testing for the best results for your product or service.

Gen Z streamers

The first group represents young people who are still not earning enough money to feel comfortable with buying subscriptions. Instead, they borrow subscriptions or watch ad-supported content. This group of people is young and still don't have children, but some are pet owners.

That is why they spend their money on products for personal care, travel, consumer technology, or pets.

Tech savvy millennials

A second group is a group of millennials who like to have a subscription to multiple services and who have more than one smart TV. They are using CTV as the primary source of entertainment and information. Their main purchasing interest is new gadgets, entertainment, fitness, and consumer electronics.‍

Family oriented streamers

Professional streamers are aged between 35 and 54, and they are usually family-oriented. These people have subscriptions, but they also use ad-supported content while balancing multiple screens simultaneously.

They like to spend their money on fine dining, clothing, finance, and cars.
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Baby boomers

Baby boomers are another demographic which is watching CTV nowadays. However, they usually do it in the company with someone else. Their attention is at its peak during the day.

They love watching soaps, drama, and home improvement content. Their top indexing purchase categories are personal care, travel, entertainment, and stuff for home.

Let's create CTV advertising campaigns together

Now that you are familiar with the global market of CTV and the main purchasing habits, you can start planning your first CTV campaign.

So, if you would like to know more about our experience with different countries and need advice on how to set up everything, don't hesitate to contact us.

Our sales team will show you the best options for your CTV campaign, and our client support will take care of the whole process so you don't waste your time or your resources.

We are also open to partnerships with agencies that already see a demand for CTV advertising but lack supply in this department.