Television remains one of the most popular and effective advertising channels worldwide. Despite the ongoing digitalization of the advertising industry and the proliferation of online video streaming services, marketers are still embracing the potential of (linear) TV for brand promotion. This is also the case in the United States, which was estimated to have reached 125 million
as of the 2023-2024 TV season. In 2024,
was expected to amount to approximately 60.6 billion U.S. dollars. Moreover, linear TV ranked seventh among the
Top TV advertisers and the ongoing tug of war for contested ad space
Roughly eight decades after the first commercial aired on U.S. television, ads have become integral to the TV viewing experience. On broadcast networks such as ABC, NBC, or FOX, prime-time advertising times range from an average of 12 to 17 minutes per hour. While audiences are exposed to advertising messages daily, airtime during top-rated TV shows, sports events, and awards ceremonies are particularly popular among U.S. marketers. This popularity has shot budgets up to new heights: in 2024, the
average cost of a 30-second TV commercial during the Super Bowl reached a record seven million dollars. Furthermore,
Super Bowl ad revenue amounted to 600 million dollars a year earlier. In general, Procter & Gamble was the
country’s largest spender on broadcast network TV advertising, followed by a bevy of ad heavyweights, including Amazon and Berkshire Hathaway.
Targeting TV audiences in an ever-evolving multimedia space
As the (pay) TV landscape faces increased competition from over-the-top (OTT) media and other non-linear streaming alternatives, marketers have started to adapt their advertising strategies to the changes in viewing behavior and preferences. In 2022,
U.S. spending on connected TV (CTV) advertising stood at 20.7 billion dollars, and according to the latest forecasts, this figure will more than double by 2027. CTV advertising allows brands to reach their audience on smart TVs and OTT devices, including streaming players or internet-enabled gaming consoles. Given
CTV programmatic advertising’s ability to reach an estimated 99 percent of internet-connected U.S. households in the third quarter of 2023 and to enable more efficient audience targeting, marketers are increasingly focusing on non-linear video content consumption. Besides,
retail media ad spending on CTV devices was also projected to enjoy a boom, with a growth of more than two billion dollars expected between 2022 and 2025.
CTV: potential and challenges
Connected TV advertising in the U.S. is likely to remain important in the coming years. By 2025, the
number of connected U.S. TV users was estimated to pass 200 million. Alongside that, the
share of CTV in advertising spending in the country was projected to rise in the following years. However, there are some barriers in the way of CTV. As of March 2023, macroeconomic headwinds ranked first among the
leading obstacles preventing spending on U.S. CTV advertising.
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