AdExchanger’s Top 3 CTV Stories Of 2024

Since both Christmas and New Year’s are right in the middle of the week this year, let’s be honest with ourselves: for all intents and purposes, 2024 is already over.

Which means now’s a good time to see how far CTV advertising has come by looking back at some of this year’s most read stories on AdExchanger.

(And for a more in-depth breakdown of how things have changed over the past 12 months, be sure to read the Senior Editor Recap by Alyssa Boyle of this year’s biggest CTV trends.)

Without further ado, let’s get to it.

1. How streamers are fighting the scourge of shrinking TV ad inventory (March)

Not only do TV audiences generally dislike watching ads, but thanks to streaming services like Netflix, which did not introduce advertising until the end of 2022they’ve become accustomed to entertainment experiences that don’t include commercial breaks.

If you accept the prediction that U.S. television could lose up to a quarter of its ad volume by 2027, that poses a pretty serious existential threat to the future of television advertising — one that’s forcing streaming publishers to get creative in how they increase their ad load, such as Alyssa explained earlier this year.

So far it seems to be paying off. During their third–fourth earnings callsmost publishers reported that both their ad stream levels and FAST channels saw tremendous growth, if not outright profitability.

2. The debate over premium content is holding back CTV’s programming growth (May)

“Premium content” is like beauty because it exists in the eye of the beholder – and it’s also capable of starting wars.

Admittedly, the ongoing battle between publishers and agencies over CTV’s programming buys probably won’t be the subject of any Greek epic songs or Brad Pitt movies. (Although, you never know. Corporate biopics are big right now!)

Still, programmatic adoption has continued to grow exponentially across the CTV landscape, whether publishers are willing to relinquish control of their “premium content” or not.

3. Is content ownership actually a conflict for DSPs? (November)

Speaking of content, in late November, The Trade Desk finally announced — well, admitted, really — that it plans to release its own TV operating system called Ventura in the second half of 2025.

It’s hard to get into the OS game at this stage, especially without any control over the actual television hardware. Perhaps that’s why The Trade Desk framed its move as a way to create a more level playing field with other DSPs that own their own content libraries—which, according to TTD CEO Jeff Green, is a conflict of interest.

It’s certainly an argument to be made, although everyone I’ve asked seems unconvinced.

So TTD’s Ventura is unlikely to start a trend of copying new OSes, at least not until its efforts prove successful. However, the tension between having content and content delivery systems are probably worth keeping an eye on in the future.

Make new friends but keep the old ones

It’s the end of 2024! Stay tuned for our predictions of what will happen to CTV advertising in 2025, and enjoy your vacation.

Questions? Comments? A concern? Call me at [email protected].