Mary Gabrielyan
August 28, 2025
27
minutes read
The screen hasn’t changed—only the signal has. With viewers flocking to connected platforms, streaming TV now plays a pivotal role in advertising plans. In 2025, it's firmly part of the core.
Streaming TV advertising has hit a new stride in 2025. Connected TV (CTV) devices are now used by over 85% of U.S. households, and streaming accounts for more than 44% of total TV viewing time. As viewership consolidates around platforms like YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, and free ad-supported services such as Pluto TV and Tubi, marketers are shifting their budgets accordingly.
This guide takes a deep look at the modern streaming TV ad ecosystem: the platforms that dominate viewer attention, the formats that deliver results, and the buying models that give advertisers flexibility and scale. We’ll unpack how performance is tracked, where the most innovation is happening, and how brands can build campaigns that convert viewers into customers—all backed by fresh data and practical strategy.
Streaming TV advertising refers to the delivery of video ads to viewers watching television content via internet-connected devices. These ads appear on services accessed through smart TVs, streaming sticks, game consoles, or apps on mobile devices and desktops—often referred to collectively as connected TV (CTV). Unlike traditional broadcast or cable television, streaming allows ads to be targeted at the household or even individual level, based on real-time data.
There are multiple forms of streaming content monetization. Some platforms are entirely free and supported by ads (known as FAST—Free Ad-Supported TV), while others offer ad-supported tiers alongside premium subscriptions (AVOD—Ad-Supported Video on Demand). Even historically ad-free platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video have adopted this model in recent years. In all cases, advertisers can place commercials before, during, or after the content a user is watching, often with more control over who sees them and when.
The major advantage is that these ads reach audiences that are increasingly unreachable on linear TV. As mentioned, streaming video now accounts for over 44% of total U.S. TV viewing, while traditional cable and broadcast continue to decline. Streaming advertising enables brands to engage audiences wherever they’re watching—and with the kind of precision and accountability that traditional TV has never offered.
Streaming ads combine the impact of television with the precision of digital marketing. Advertisers get the full-screen, lean-back experience of traditional TV, but with more control, better targeting, and real-time performance data. Here are the key benefits that set streaming TV apart in 2025:
Streaming allows advertisers to target based on demographics, behavior, location, device type, and even household-level identifiers. This means brands can deliver different ads to different households watching the same show, reducing overspend and reaching the most relevant viewers. Many platforms also support third-party data integrations and contextual targeting using scene-level analysis.
Cord-cutters and cord-nevers—particularly Millennials and Gen Z—spend most of their screen time on streaming. According to recent studies, 82% of Gen Z and Millennial viewers in the U.S. watch ad-supported streaming TV weekly. Streaming ads give marketers a critical way to reach audiences that traditional TV can no longer capture effectively.
Streaming ads are usually unskippable and have completion rates exceeding 90% on many platforms. Unlike banner ads or social video, viewers are more likely to see and remember streaming ads, especially when placed in premium content environments with lighter ad loads than cable.
CTV is digital at its core. Advertisers can access detailed performance metrics like impressions, view-through rate (VTR), video completion rate, and even conversion tracking through device matching or integration with retail media networks.
In fact, over half of marketers in the U.S. now use CTV to drive and measure web traffic, app installs, or purchases.
Thanks to its targeting efficiency and measurable impact, CTV campaigns typically generate 20–30% higher ROI than linear TV. Some brands have reported even greater gains, particularly when integrating CTV with other digital channels like paid search or social media.
Streaming services provide ad placements within high-quality, professionally produced content, often alongside top-tier entertainment or live sports. For brands concerned about brand safety or contextual alignment, CTV offers a cleaner and more controlled environment than user-generated content platforms.
Put simply, streaming TV has earned its place at the center of the media plan. It’s now a key tool for marketers looking to boost awareness, drive results, and make every media dollar count.
At its core, streaming TV advertising operates on a digital infrastructure that mirrors online media but with the scale and attention of television. Ads are delivered dynamically and often personalized to households in real time, thanks to a chain of connected players:
Ads on streaming TV are delivered through programmatic infrastructure that evaluates each impression in real time. When a viewer presses “play,” platforms analyze device-level signals—such as IP address, household data, and device graphs—to determine which ad is most relevant. A viewer watching a cooking show on Roku, for example, may see a different ad than someone streaming the same program on Fire TV, based on demographics, location, or past behavior.
Advertisers can layer on granular targeting (age, gender, geography, interests, viewing patterns) and set delivery rules like frequency caps or device preferences. Because streaming is inherently digital, performance data is available almost immediately, allowing campaigns to be optimized while they run.
This system gives brands the scale of television with the precision of digital targeting, a combination that continues to drive budgets away from traditional channels and into streaming.
Streaming TV is often described in terms of OTT (over-the-top) and CTV (connected TV)—terms that are frequently used interchangeably but describe different things.
In other words: OTT is the content, CTV is the screen. Both are part of the streaming ad landscape, but when marketers say they’re buying “CTV ads,” they’re usually referring to ads served on a TV screen in a household setting, not on mobile or desktop.
👉 For a full breakdown, see our article: OTT vs. CTV: Key Differences, Similarities, and What They Mean for Your Marketing Strategy in 2025.
Streaming services come in several business models, and it’s critical for advertisers to understand which support advertising and which don’t.
In short: AVOD = your primary playground for advertising. SVOD is evolving to include ads. TVOD is outside the ad model altogether.
Streaming TV offers far more than just the traditional 30-second commercial. With digital infrastructure underpinning content delivery, advertisers can experiment with dynamic formats that are interactive, personalized, and precisely placed within the viewer experience.
Some formats are designed to mirror the familiar structure of linear TV ads, while others are built specifically for streaming, designed to invite action, extend engagement, or blend into the content itself. Below are the key ad types available, along with how and where they typically show up in a viewer's session.
In-stream video ads are the backbone of streaming TV advertising. These are the standard 15-, 30-, or 60-second video ads that appear either before (pre-roll), during (mid-roll), or after (post-roll) a piece of content. On platforms like Hulu, YouTube, or Peacock, viewers will typically encounter these between episodes or at natural ad breaks during shows or movies.
Unlike display or mobile video ads, in-stream streaming ads are unskippable in most cases, ensuring high viewability. Completion rates are strong across the board—as mentioned, CTV ads average 90%+ completion rates, making them among the most effective digital formats for full-message delivery.
In-stream ads appear across AVOD, FAST, and even SVOD tiers that offer ad-supported options, such as Netflix Basic with Ads. They offer the broadest reach and are ideal for both branding and performance goals, particularly when paired with advanced targeting.
This is one of the fastest-growing areas of streaming ad innovation. Interactive and shoppable ads allow viewers to engage directly with the ad content—often by scanning a QR code, pressing a button on their remote, or interacting with the ad via mobile while watching on TV.
For example:
These formats are designed to shorten the path from impression to action.
One study found that 41% of viewers who engage with a shoppable streaming ad go on to make a purchase, and purchase intent can rise by nearly 50% after interaction.
Expect more platforms to push these formats further in 2025, especially as retail media and CTV converge, allowing advertisers to link streaming exposure to in-store or online purchases in real time.
Pause ads appear when a viewer hits the pause button during a stream. Instead of a blank screen or frozen frame, a static or animated ad appears, often promoting a product related to the show or suggesting an offer for when the viewer returns.
These ads are non-intrusive and highly visible, as the viewer has chosen to pause rather than being interrupted mid-content. Platforms like Hulu, Peacock, and Max have widely adopted pause ads in their AVOD tiers. Brands often use them to build awareness or promote time-sensitive offers.
Overlay ads, by contrast, are small graphic elements that appear at the bottom or side of the screen during content playback. They don’t block the video but act as visual prompts—e.g., a soft banner offering a product discount or promoting a brand message. These are ideal for reinforcing branding or encouraging light interaction, such as scanning a QR code or visiting a URL.
While less immersive than full video ads, both pause and overlay formats allow brands to occupy attention moments without breaking the content flow—especially useful in longer-form viewing environments.
Companion banners run alongside or adjacent to a main video ad—most commonly on devices with dual-screen or interface options, such as smart TVs, desktops, or connected streaming apps with built-in ad placements.
A typical use case: after a 30-second in-stream ad finishes, a branded banner remains visible in the content navigation area, home screen, or adjacent panel. On Roku, for example, brands can own the home screen carousel or feature in the sponsored content rails.
These banners help extend the brand’s presence beyond the video itself, keeping the message visible while the viewer browses or watches. Some can be interactive—clickable on desktop, or QR-based on CTV—making them ideal for driving website visits or product exploration after initial exposure.
Advertisers often bundle companion banners with in-stream campaigns to reinforce recall and increase time-in-view.
For brands looking to move beyond interruptive formats, branded content and sponsorships offer a high-impact alternative. This includes:
These placements are typically negotiated directly with publishers or platforms and are best suited to brand-building goals, where alignment with premium content is part of the strategy.
For example:
These formats blur the line between entertainment and advertising—ideal for brands looking to build credibility, increase brand affinity, or associate with specific genres or cultural moments. While harder to scale than standard ad units, they offer deep integration and long-lasting impression potential.
Advertisers can purchase streaming TV ads in several ways, depending on their goals, budget, and need for control. Each model offers distinct advantages in terms of flexibility, targeting, and access to premium content.
Programmatic advertising is the automated buying of ad space using real-time bidding and audience data. Through demand-side platforms (DSPs), advertisers set targeting parameters (like location, device, interests) and budget caps. The DSP then bids on inventory across multiple streaming platforms in real time—winning impressions that best match the criteria.
Roughly 75% of CTV ads in the U.S. are now bought programmatically.
The appeal is efficiency: it gives brands access to multiple apps and services through a single buying platform. They can test creatives, apply frequency caps, shift spend dynamically, and track performance down to the impression.
💡 But programmatic doesn’t always mean optimized: inefficiencies in the supply chain can drain media budgets through hidden fees and redundant paths. In our deep dive on supply-side optimization, we explore how AI helps identify and eliminate waste in the bid stream, streamline inventory paths, and maximize the value of every impression.
Private marketplaces (PMPs) offer a curated, more controlled version of programmatic buying. Instead of participating in open auctions, advertisers are invited into exclusive deals with specific publishers—often with premium inventory and first-look access.
These deals allow buyers to:
By 2024, PMPs and programmatic guaranteed deals accounted for 66% of programmatic CTV spend, up from just 41% the year prior.
This reflects a shift in buyer preference toward quality over scale—especially for national brands prioritizing safety, viewability, and context.
PMPs typically carry a higher CPM than open exchange inventory, but offer far greater control over where ads appear and who sees them.
Direct buys involve negotiating directly with a publisher or streaming platform, outside of the programmatic ecosystem. These can take the form of insertion orders (IOs) for specific placements—say, a campaign takeover on Hulu during a new season premiere—or part of a broader upfront deal negotiated during annual media buying events.
Upfronts used to be the exclusive domain of broadcast TV, but by 2025, they’ve become fully converged: most major networks now bundle linear, digital, and streaming inventory into unified deals. For example, during the 2025 Upfronts, NBCUniversal, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery all offered streaming-first packages tied to premium content across platforms.
Direct buys and upfronts are often used to secure:
While less flexible than programmatic buys, direct deals offer predictability, brand alignment, and exclusivity, especially valuable for large seasonal campaigns or high-profile product launches.
Notably, many of today’s “direct” deals are delivered using programmatic guaranteed technology, combining automation with upfront negotiation.
For smaller brands—or those looking to test streaming without committing to big-budget buys—self-serve platforms offer an easy entry point. These tools allow advertisers to create, launch, and manage CTV campaigns without going through an agency or DSP.
Popular examples include:
Self-serve platforms give advertisers access to streaming inventory on top-tier apps with relatively simple setup and transparent reporting. While targeting and creative options may be more limited than enterprise-grade DSPs, self-serve tools are ideal for:
As platforms compete to democratize access to TV advertising, expect self-service models to become more sophisticated and more widely adopted in the coming years.
Each buying model has its place in a modern streaming strategy. National advertisers often use a mix: locking in premium inventory through PMPs and upfronts, while running performance-driven campaigns via programmatic platforms, and testing creatives or niche audiences with self-serve tools. The flexibility to switch between models—or combine them—has become one of streaming TV’s greatest strengths.
By 2025, nearly every major streaming service in the U.S. either supports advertising or has introduced an ad-supported tier. The result is a competitive, fragmented ecosystem where inventory quality, audience demographics, and ad formats vary widely from one platform to the next.
For advertisers, the key is knowing where the audiences are—and which platforms offer the right blend of reach, targeting, brand safety, and cost-effectiveness. Below are the leading ad-supported streaming platforms in the U.S. today, based on market footprint, viewer behavior, and advertiser adoption.
YouTube remains the largest single streaming destination in the U.S. by time spent on TV screens. As of mid-2025, it accounts for over 12% of total U.S. TV viewing time, more than any other streaming service.
For advertisers, YouTube offers:
YouTube's CTV inventory includes everything from long-form entertainment and creator content to news, music, and sports highlights—accessible across smart TVs, game consoles, and streaming devices. Its ad inventory is fully skippable or non-skippable depending on format, with robust engagement metrics and remarketing options.
As a pioneer in ad-supported streaming, Hulu has long been a staple in CTV media plans. It offers a mix of next-day TV episodes, original content, and live TV through its Hulu + Live TV bundle. The majority of subscribers use Hulu’s ad-supported tier, making it one of the most valuable AVOD properties for national advertisers.
Benefits include:
Hulu also supports self-serve buying through its Hulu Ad Manager, allowing smaller businesses to run localized or demographic-specific campaigns with as little as $500.
As both a hardware operating system and a media company, Roku offers advertisers unique access to the living room. Its Roku OS powers over 70 million devices, and it monetizes both its owned content (via The Roku Channel) and third-party apps on its platform.
Advertisers can buy:
Roku’s big differentiator is first-party data: it knows what users watch across platforms and uses that information to serve ads more effectively. It also supports interactive ads that viewers can engage with using their remote—data from Roku shows these units generate 118x more engagement than QR-based ads.
Tubi (owned by Fox) and Pluto TV (owned by Paramount Global) are the top FAST (Free Ad-supported Streaming TV) platforms in the U.S., each reaching tens of millions of monthly active users. These services offer linear-style, free programming organized into channels, often segmented by genre, nostalgia, or interest area.
Key traits:
Tubi and Pluto are especially popular among viewers who prefer free content over paid subscriptions—an increasingly important segment as subscription fatigue sets in. Their ad inventory is typically accessed via PMPs or programmatic platforms.
Once ad-free by principle, Netflix introduced its ad-supported tier in late 2022 and has scaled significantly since.
Key characteristics of Netflix’s ad offering:
Netflix commands some of the highest CPMs in the market, often exceeding $30–$40 per thousand impressions. While it lacks the scale of YouTube or Hulu in terms of ad inventory, the platform offers prestige and reach into affluent households.
Amazon’s growing streaming ecosystem includes:
In 2024, Amazon began rolling out ads across Prime Video’s U.S. audience, creating a massive new pool of premium inventory. Combined with Amazon’s shopper data and DSP capabilities, this positions Amazon as a CTV + commerce powerhouse.
Advertisers benefit from:
These three network-backed streaming platforms combine large libraries of TV content, live sports, and original programming. Each offers ad-supported tiers and is increasingly present in national media plans:
All three participate in Upfronts and PMPs, giving advertisers multiple paths to secure inventory, especially around marquee events.
Each streaming platform offers a different mix of reach, pricing, targeting, and creative opportunity. Choosing the right mix depends on your campaign goals:
In practice, most advertisers use a portfolio approach, layering inventory from multiple sources to balance scale, precision, and cost-efficiency. What matters most is having visibility into performance and the tools to optimize across the ecosystem.
One of the defining advantages of streaming TV over traditional broadcast is its addressability—the ability to target households or individuals based on behavior, location, interests, or past interactions. In 2025, audience targeting on CTV is increasingly sophisticated, even in the face of privacy restrictions and the fading relevance of cookies.
With connected devices, deterministic identity, and first-party data playing a central role, advertisers can deliver more relevant, better-performing campaigns without relying on outdated identifiers.
💡 For a closer look at how privacy shifts are reshaping targeting strategies and what opportunities remain in a world without third-party cookies, see In a Cookie-less World: New Challenges and Opportunities.
Behavioral targeting allows advertisers to reach audiences based on interests, past content consumption, and online habits—whether it’s frequent streaming of home improvement shows or a recent search for skincare products.
On streaming platforms, behavioral segments are often derived from:
Demographic targeting is layered on top—typically by age, gender, household size, income bracket, or parental status. Some platforms allow even finer segmentation using third-party data sources (e.g., Experian, Nielsen), especially via demand-side platforms (DSPs).
These options allow advertisers to go beyond broad demo buys and instead reach intent-rich households, resulting in improved campaign efficiency.
IP-based targeting is the foundation of household-level ad delivery in streaming. Every connected device transmits an IP address, which can be linked to geographic data and household characteristics.
This allows advertisers to:
It’s especially valuable for franchise brands, political advertisers, and retailers with localized offers.
Advanced DSPs and publishers often pair IP data with device graphs to map users across screens—helping reduce duplication and improve targeting consistency.
Frequency capping controls how many times a viewer sees the same ad—critical for avoiding overexposure and diminishing returns. Unlike linear TV, where the same viewer might see the same spot repeatedly with no way to manage it, CTV campaigns can limit ad exposure at the household or device level.
On the contextual relevance front, platforms are getting smarter. Publishers like Tubi are deploying AI to analyze the tone and emotion of individual scenes—matching ads to scenes that align with their messaging. For example, upbeat ads might appear during feel-good movie scenes, while wellness brands might avoid horror content.
Contextual alignment has been shown to improve viewer attention and brand favorability, without requiring personal data.
Retargeting is no longer limited to web and mobile. CTV retargeting allows advertisers to re-engage viewers who’ve seen their ads—or interacted with their brand—across devices.
How it works:
This is powered by cross-device identity graphs, which match devices in the same household via IP address and behavioral patterns.
CTV retargeting is used to:
As marketers strive for full-funnel performance, CTV retargeting provides the connective tissue between awareness and action.
CTV is not an isolated channel. When planned and executed properly, it works in tandem with the rest of a brand’s media stack—reinforcing creative, sharing data, and accelerating conversion across touchpoints.
In 2025, the most effective campaigns are those that integrate streaming with social, display, mobile, and even linear TV, creating unified, personalized brand experiences.
Streaming ads may be watched on a big screen, but conversions often happen on smaller ones. That’s why understanding and mapping the cross-device journey is critical.
Advertisers use cross-device ID graphs and pixel-based attribution to connect:
Mapping these paths helps brands understand what role CTV plays in the conversion chain—and where to apply budget for maximum ROI. For example, a streaming ad might spark awareness, while a social retargeting ad closes the sale.
CTV works best when combined with other channels. Here’s how it fits into a cross-channel mix:
When creative and sequencing work together across channels, marketers can build frequency efficiently while avoiding saturation on any single platform. Some DSPs now enable unified planning for CTV, social, and display, letting budgets shift in real time toward the best-performing channels.
Measuring the impact of CTV alongside other digital channels is a top priority for advertisers, and the tech has finally caught up. Unified attribution models help brands assess:
Platforms like Nielsen ONE, Comscore, and VideoAmp are working to deliver deduplicated reach and frequency across TV + digital—helping brands understand what’s working and where to scale. Retail media integrations add another layer of insight by tying ad exposures to actual product purchases in-store or online.
In short: streaming ads don’t live in a silo and when connected with other channels, they can amplify performance across the entire media plan.
Streaming TV ad costs reflect both increased demand and shifting budget, from traditional media to digital performance channels. A recent report shows that U.S. streaming ad spend rose 17% in 2024 to $12.9 billion, with nearly 14,000 advertisers now participating—29% more than the previous year. This influx of interest is putting pressure on budgets previously earmarked for linear TV, altering the cost dynamics of streaming ads.
Here’s how these market shifts translate into cost trends:
In practical terms, advertisers today can expect a broad range of CPMs—from under $10 for remnant FAST inventory, to well over $30 for elite, brand-safe placements, making careful planning and mix of inventory essential to costs and ROI.
Well-crafted creatives are more important in streaming environments than ever before. Here are key guidelines to optimize engagement, performance, and brand recall:
When advertisers pair purposeful ad length with screen-aware design, interactivity, and continuous optimisation, they can lift both engagement and ROI, even in streaming TV’s high-attention, lean-back setting.
Running a streaming TV campaign requires more than dropping a 30-second spot into a media plan. To succeed in 2025, advertisers need a well-defined strategy, the right inventory mix, and a clear plan for measuring performance.
Start by defining what success looks like. Are you driving brand awareness, site traffic, app installs, or product sales? Streaming campaigns can do all of the above—but the objective will determine your media mix, creative approach, and measurement framework.
Key questions to answer during planning:
A solid plan connects media investment to business outcomes—and ensures you're not treating streaming as an isolated experiment.
Next, select the right streaming platforms and ad formats to align with your campaign goals and audience behavior.
Pair your platform selection with the right format:
Think of your format choices as an extension of your funnel strategy—top, mid, and bottom—delivered on the largest screen in the house.
Depending on your internal resources, you can launch campaigns:
For most mid-sized and large advertisers, a hybrid approach is common: running programmatic buys for efficiency and negotiated direct deals for high-profile inventory.
If you're new to CTV, working with a performance-oriented agency or platform partner can shorten the learning curve and offer better access to insights and optimization tools. Contact AI Digital to learn more about how we can help.
CTV campaigns aren’t fire-and-forget. Performance needs to be tracked, analyzed, and improved throughout the campaign lifecycle.
Set up:
Optimize by:
If possible, integrate CTV into your broader attribution model—so you can track how it contributes to web visits, conversions, or other downstream metrics.
As streaming TV has matured, so has the ability to track performance and tie ad exposure to business outcomes. In 2025, advertisers have access to a range of metrics and attribution models to evaluate whether a CTV campaign is actually moving the needle.
While direct clicks aren’t typical on a TV screen, advertisers can still track who saw what, when, and what happened afterward—using tools like identity graphs, pixel tracking, ACR data, and integrations with retail media or e-commerce platforms.
View-through rate (VTR) measures the percentage of viewers who watch your ad to completion—or to a key benchmark (e.g., 75%). It’s a core metric for assessing engagement and message delivery.
CTV typically outperforms other digital video here. In 2025:
Use VTR to compare performance across platforms, creatives, or dayparts and identify which combinations drive higher viewer retention.
Similar to VTR, completion rate measures how many times your ad was played in full. It’s particularly useful for unskippable ad formats, which are common in CTV.
Why it matters:
Benchmark: A healthy CTV campaign should target 85–95% completion rates, especially for 15-second in-stream placements.
On CTV, 30-second ads led the pack in 2024 with a 95.92% completion rate, followed by 15-second (93.88%) and sub-10-second spots (90.4%). Most other lengths topped 85%, but ads over 90 seconds plunged to just 32.44%.
With households using multiple devices—from smart TVs to phones and laptops—multi-touch attribution (MTA) is essential. It tracks how different media exposures across platforms contribute to conversion.
In the case of CTV:
MTA models assign weighted credit to each touchpoint, helping advertisers understand CTV’s role in the path to purchase. Many DSPs and measurement partners offer this natively or via integrations with attribution platforms like LiveRamp, AppsFlyer, or Rockerbox.
For upper-funnel campaigns, brand lift studies help measure how CTV impacts viewer perception. These studies use control vs. exposed groups to assess:
Partners like Nielsen, Kantar, and Lucid provide third-party lift studies, while some DSPs and publishers offer built-in brand surveys for quick pulse checks.
In 2025, many advertisers also measure search lift (e.g., branded keyword volume) and site visitation lift using pixel-based tracking and Google Analytics integrations.
Together, these metrics give a holistic view of performance—from attention and recall to action and revenue—making streaming TV one of the most accountable channels in the media mix.
Streaming TV continues to evolve rapidly, shaped by emerging technology trends and shifting advertiser priorities. Looking ahead, these four areas are poised to reshape how brands reach viewers and drive results.
💡For broader context on where media is headed, see our overview of the evolving media landscape: Media Trends 2025.
Here’s what’s gaining momentum in streaming media advertising:
Interactive experiences are becoming core to streaming ads. Viewers are increasingly willing to engage via QR codes and remote-triggered actions, with 30% of users regularly scanning QR codes while watching TV. These formats convert passive moments into active engagement, often boosting purchase intent and engagement rates across channels.
AI is transforming how ads are built and delivered. In fact, 86% of advertisers are using or planning to use generative AI for video ad creation, with projections showing it will account for 40% of all video ads by 2026. Personalization powered by AI, tailoring creatives by audience, context, or performance data, offers broader appeal and relevance at scale.
Advertisers now tie CTV exposure directly to consumer behavior. Retail media and first-party data sets have unlocked the ability to deliver hyper-targeted ads and measure outcomes across the purchase journey. U.S. retail media ad spending in 2025 is expected to surpass $62 billion, with CTV increasingly woven into every stage of the funnel. This convergence is creating a full-funnel model where awareness can flow directly into action.
Retailers are now major players in ad delivery beyond their e-commerce sites, extending into CTV thanks to their shopper-first data. As a result, brands can now use platforms like Amazon, Walmart, and Instacart to target, deliver, and measure CTV ads that drive in-store or online purchases. This shift is turning CTV into a performance channel with commerce-level accountability.
Even as streaming ad innovations accelerate, advertisers face persistent challenges. Here are four common issues and how to sidestep them:
While the streaming ad ecosystem is inherently complex, these pitfalls can be mitigated with thoughtful strategy, strong data practices, and an iterative mindset. In doing so, brands can confidently tap into streaming’s full potential without reinvention or wasted dollars.
Streaming TV is no longer the future; it’s firmly the present. With audiences shifting their viewing habits, advertisers have followed, investing heavily in formats, platforms, and strategies that bring television into the digital era. From precision household targeting to performance-focused campaigns to interactive and shoppable formats, streaming delivers a rare mix of reach, accountability, and creative opportunity.
But succeeding in this ecosystem takes more than a media buy. It requires strategic thinking, technical fluency, and a clear understanding of how each piece—from ad format to attribution model—connects to your business goals.
If you’re looking to run advertising on streaming services, test new formats, or bring more performance into your media plan, we’re the people to talk to. At AI Digital, we help brands plan, launch, and optimize streaming campaigns that actually deliver—on screens big and small.
Let’s talk. We’d love to help you get more out of streaming.
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Inefficiency
Description
Use case
Description of use case
Examples of companies using AI
Ease of implementation
Impact
Audience segmentation and insights
Identify and categorize audience groups based on behaviors, preferences, and characteristics
Automated ad campaigns
Automate ad creation, placement, and optimization across various platforms
Brand sentiment tracking
Monitor and analyze public opinion about a brand across multiple channels in real time
Campaign strategy optimization
Analyze data to predict optimal campaign approaches, channels, and timing
Content strategy
Generate content ideas, predict performance, and optimize distribution strategies
Personalization strategy development
Create tailored messaging and experiences for consumers at scale
