Programmatic CTV: Transforming the future of TV advertising and media buying

Programmatic CTV is revolutionizing the traditional TV advertising landscape, reshaping how advertisers reach and engage audiences. By blending the precision of digital advertising with the immersive experience of television, programmatic CTV offers a dynamic, data-driven approach to delivering ads. This transformation allows advertisers to target specific audience segments, measure performance in real-time, and optimize campaigns for maximum impact. In this article, we explore how programmatic CTV is reshaping TV advertising, highlighting key benefits such as enhanced targeting, improved efficiency, and greater accountability, and how it’s driving the future of media buying in the digital age.

CTV combines the best of both worlds – advertising on the largest screen in a home and the power of programmatic advertising, efficiently allowing impactful brand storytelling and the possibility of driving conversions through interactivity and retargeting on other devices, points out Neena Dasgupta, CEO & Founder, The Salt Inc.

She points out that the rise of CTV in India is driven by several factors, including the availability of affordable Smart TVs; nearly all TVs sold today are Smart TVs.

“Additionally, devices like Firestick, that turn regular TVs into Smart TVs, are further expanding the CTV user base. The rise of on-demand OTT content and the increasing penetration of wired broadband and 5G networks have also significantly contributed to this growth. With CTV, advertisers now gain the advantage of transparency and measurability, allowing them to answer the critical question: “What happened after my ad ran on TV?”. This capability brings new levels of accountability and insight into the equation. Additionally, CTV enables brands to target entire households rather than just individual viewers, reflecting the reality that much of CTV content consumption involves co-viewing by multiple people. This shift from individual to household targeting, combined with the engaging nature of CTV content, significantly enhances the effectiveness and reach of advertising campaigns,” Dasgupta says.

Regarding the key benefits for advertisers, Paul Wright, General Manager, Western Europe and MENAT at AppsFlyer, says that traditional cable operators can only track the number of views and viewer locations, which do not provide the richest set of insights in today’s consumer markets, where individualisation is a must-have.

“OTT platforms perform much better in gathering data, both in terms of quantity and quality. They know much more than just what people are watching; they know how they are watching it, when they disengage from content, and why. They can also compose reports on cross-regional viewing trends that can be immensely useful to marketers. Moreover, CTV ads have been shown to produce much higher viewing completion rates than other forms of communication. This, combined with the ability to fine-tune both the message and the audience through insights from rich data sets, empowers campaign-runners to be more strategic with their ads, placing them across top-tier networks and popular content, and even re-engaging their OTT and CTV viewers across the various devices they use,” says Wright.

The scale of programmatic CTV has surged well in the last two years, and now contributes to 17% of total TV households with significant growth potential as more Indian households adopt this new-age media, says Rajiv Rajagopal, Head - Advanced TV, Media Solutions, GroupM Nexus.

“CTV marks a pivotal shift toward addressable TV, blending the precision of digital with the reach of traditional television. Through programmatic technology, CTV enables advertisers to target specific audiences beyond demo & geo, delivering personalized content on the big screen. The added benefits of audience segmentation and real-time campaign optimization make CTV a game-changer, allowing advertisers to measure effectiveness instantly. This programmatic approach improves efficiency by unifying reach, reducing wasted impressions, and minimizing overspill, offering a more impactful and cost-effective advertising solution,” he adds.

The Challenges

Programmatic CTV faces key challenges, including ad fraud, platform fragmentation, limited transparency, ad frequency overload, and tightening privacy regulations. To overcome these, advertisers and technology providers must implement fraud detection tools, standardize cross-platform measurement, and push for greater data transparency. Additionally, using frequency capping and privacy-first strategies, such as consent-based targeting and contextual ads, can help enhance user experience and comply with regulations.

Neena Dasgupta says that programmatic CTV offers immense potential for advertisers, but it is not without its challenges, such as the usual programmatic issues such as viewability, ad fraud, and accurate measurement. Additionally, she adds, the limited measurement metrics further aggravate the situation, leading to substantial variations in pricing, which creates a fragmented market and poses difficulties in standardizing performance evaluations.

“Another major challenge for brands is reaching consumers who prefer ad-free, premium content by platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime. These platforms usually attract audiences with higher spending potential, making them prime targets for brands. However, accessing these consumers remains difficult. One effective strategy to address this is through branded content, which can integrate seamlessly into the viewing experience and engage these audiences without disrupting their ad-free environment. Another critical issue is linking CTV campaigns to tangible outcomes, particularly for digital-first brands aiming to drive sales or app downloads. While technology providers are working to bridge this gap by tracking the entire consumer journey from discovery on CTV to action on mobile, achieving this at scale with privacy-compliant methods remains a significant challenge. To overcome these hurdles, ensuring rigorous ad verification, implementing strong anti-fraud measures, and adhering to industry standards, such as the MRC viewability guidelines are crucial,” Gupta explains.

One of the major challenges for advertisers is that every inventory source collects data differently, resulting in different insights, points out Paul Wright. Some providers use pixels for more accurate measurement and engagement. Often, providers operate in walled gardens, which force advertisers to work directly with them, deal with varying and limited data sets, and prevent user-level data from leaving their individual platforms.

“The result? An extremely competitive and fragmented marketplace, where advertisers face challenges around accurate measurement and attribution. This is where a mobile measurement partner (MMP), such as AppsFlyer, can help by providing a consolidated dashboard. By working with an MMP that integrates directly with CTV platforms like Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, gaming consoles, and smart TVs, you’ll access deeper metrics such as lifetime value (LTV) and metadata for better attribution,” Wright adds.

(Tomorrow – Part 2 of this report will cover how data and technology, such as AI and machine learning, are being used to enhance programmatic CTV, and the future for programmatic CTV.)

Also Read: AI in programmatic advertising: Rise of real-time bidding and personalized ads