Hello, readers! Welcome to the 70th edition of AdExchanger’s Connected TV Roundup.
If you’re still busy digesting the news of Google delaying the death of third-party cookies, the potential ban of TikTok in the US and what the heck all this means for online advertising, then this week’s dispatch will fill you in on what you’ve missed in CTV and streaming land.
Because, let’s be real, there’s no such thing as a quiet day in streaming media. (Believe me.) On Monday alone, Google kicked off NewFronts week and Paramount ousted its CEO.
Meanwhile, streaming publishers are juggling Wall Street’s expectations for incessant bottom-line growth and buy-side demands for improved measurement and programmatic options.
Digital video trends
First, let’s zoom out and look at the state of streaming ad spend.
According to the IAB’s latest digital video ad spend report, social video is on track to outpace CTV. The IAB projects social video spend will jump 20% year over year to $23.4 billion in 2024, but CTV is expected to grow just 12% YOY to $22.7 billion.
As much as CTV publishers want to turn streaming into a performance channel, it still lacks the attribution and transparency buyers expect from their digital investments, which is why they plan to spend more on social media this year, according to the IAB.
Meanwhile, streamers have a lot to lose if they can’t prove their campaigns drive real business outcomes other than reach and frequency. Streaming competition is at an all-time high, and investors are placing their bets on the players with the best targeting and attribution chops, Laura Martin, senior media and internet analyst Needham & Company, tells me.
Speaking of which, here’s a shameless plug: Laura Martin will be speaking at AdExchanger’s Programmatic IO conference in Las Vegas on May 22. If you want to hear more about the state of public ad tech companies, CTV investment and a whole lot more (which I’m sure you do), register here.
Full stream ahead
Publishers and streaming companies are also entering their Q1 earnings results period, and what they are choosing to flaunt to investors suggests that they hear Wall Street’s and advertisers’ demands loud and clear.
Netflix rang in the Q1 earnings season in April with a suite of new ad measurement partners, including Kantar, NCSolutions and Lucid by Cint, meant to widen its purchase and attribution funnel. Shortly thereafter, Roku used its earnings report to tout its progress on programmatic integrations, followed by a major partnership with The Trade Desk timed for NewFronts.
Paramount shared impressive streaming subscriber and ad revenue numbers, but that news was outshined by shareholder drama, with CEO Bob Bakish ousted on the same day as the studio’s earnings call. (The tension was palpable – the call lasted less than 10 minutes, with Paramount refusing to take any questions.)
Over the next two weeks, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Vizio will make their case for more streaming ad budgets with Q1 numbers that – hopefully – get positive attention from both advertisers and investors.
AdExchanger will be listening in, so stay tuned.
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