CTV surpasses linear TV in US consumption, but mobiles environments still underutilized

By Harry BrowneH – VP – TV, Audio & Display Innovation at Tinuiti

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮?

It’s common to focus on the transition from traditional linear TV to CTV. It’s a dramatic shift, it’s occurring on the biggest screen in the house, and it affects some of the most important, storied publishers that have dominated the past century of American culture.

But look at this chart EMARKETER released late last week. Yes, CTV consumption has now surpassed linear TV. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗧𝗩 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗮 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝟱𝟬%. That covers a breadth of touchpoints — video, audio, and (importantly) browsing. This is the foundation of how audiences are spending their time. Even when consuming linear or CTV content, viewers are often multitasking on their mobile devices.

We need to treat mobile ad environments — digital audio / podcast, online video, display — with as much sophistication and thought as we do CTV. At Tinuiti, we’re doing so across a few axes, including bringing 1:1 attribution and incrementality testing to these formats and leveraging tools like dynamic creative optimization and 1st party data targeting to make mobile-native inventory effective at every stage of the funnel. A good strategy needs to treat mobile & web inventory not as an afterthought, but as the oil that keeps a marketing engine running smoothly.