What is CTV? It’s the fastest-growing screen in advertising, and most marketers are still buying it the wrong way.

Key Highlights

• CTV stands for connected TV: any television that streams video over the internet instead of through cable or satellite
• CTV advertising delivers video ads to viewers on smart TVs, streaming sticks, and gaming consoles
• CTV differs from OTT in scope: OTT includes any internet-connected device, while CTV refers specifically to the television screen
• Marketers buy CTV inventory programmatically through DSPs, often via curated private marketplace deals for better quality and targeting
• Fragmented supply and inconsistent bidstream data are the biggest hurdles for CTV buyers, which is where curation comes in

Connected TV, or CTV, is the television you’re already watching, just delivered over the internet instead of a cable box.

Connected TV refers to any television set that streams video content through an internet connection rather than traditional broadcast, cable, or satellite signals. That includes smart TVs with built-in streaming apps, as well as devices like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and gaming consoles that turn any television into a connected one.

CTV advertising is the practice of serving video ads to viewers on these devices, and it has become one of the fastest-growing channels in digital marketing. This guide breaks down what CTV is, how CTV advertising actually works, where it overlaps with and differs from OTT, and what marketers need to know before buying CTV inventory.

What is CTV?

CTV stands for connected TV.

The term covers three categories of hardware. Smart TVs come with streaming apps built directly into the operating system, no extra device needed. Streaming devices plug into a standard TV to add internet connectivity, think Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, and Chromecast. Gaming consoles like PlayStation and Xbox also count, since most ship with streaming apps pre-installed.

What unites all three is the screen. If the content lands on an actual television, it’s CTV. CTV now accounts for nearly a quarter of all US ad spend, and 88% of US households own at least one CTV device, according to LiveRamp. That scale is why CTV has moved from “channel to test” to “channel to budget for” in most media plans.

It’s worth noting CTV is not the same as the content delivered on it. A CTV device can stream traditional cable networks, ad-supported tiers from services like Netflix and Prime Video, or fully digital-native platforms. The device is what makes it connected. The content can be almost anything.

How Does CTV Advertising Work?

CTV advertising works by inserting video ads into streaming content, the same way commercials interrupt a cable broadcast.

When a viewer presses play on a show or live stream, an ad request fires to the streaming app or platform. That request gets routed, often through a supply-side platform (SSP), to advertisers bidding to reach that specific viewer. The winning ad gets stitched into the stream before, during, or after the content plays.

What makes CTV advertising different from linear TV commercials is the data layer underneath it. Because the ad request travels through the internet rather than a broadcast signal, it can carry information about the household, the device, and sometimes the viewer’s broader online behavior. This allows for household-level targeting by zip code, age, gender, and income, something linear TV was never built to do. 

That targeting precision, combined with the format of a thirty-second unskippable video on a living room screen, is the core pitch of CTV: TV-level brand impact with digital-level measurement.

CTV vs OTT: What’s the Difference?

CTV and OTT get used interchangeably, but they’re not the same thing.

OTT, or over-the-top, refers to any video content delivered over the internet rather than through traditional cable or satellite. That’s a broad category. It includes content watched on phones, tablets, laptops, and televisions alike. Streaming TV is an umbrella term that encompasses connected TV, but OTT streaming is also possible on devices like mobile phones, desktop browsers, and tablets.

CTV is the subset of OTT that specifically refers to the television screen. So all CTV is OTT, but not all OTT is CTV.

Why does this distinction matter for a media buyer? Inventory and targeting behave differently across screens. CTV is the subset of OTT focused specifically on streaming TV advertising shown on big screens, where the inventory environment is typically premium and performance-driven. A campaign built for OTT broadly might dilute reach across mobile and desktop screens that don’t carry the same attention or completion rates as the living room TV.

Why CTV Advertising Matters for Marketers

CTV has shifted from an experimental line item to a core part of most media plans, and the viewership data explains why.

Time spent on the channel keeps climbing. The average US viewer spent 1 hour and 22 minutes per day on CTV in 2020, a figure expected to climb to 2 hours and 37 minutes by 2026, according to AdRoll. Spend is following attention. CTV ad spend is projected to hit $38 billion in the US by 2026.  

Internally, this shift shows up at the publisher level too. At media companies like Paramount, roughly 90% of digital impressions now come from CTV devices.  

For agency traders and brand marketers, this means CTV inventory is no longer scarce. The challenge has shifted from “can we find CTV supply” to “can we find the right CTV supply, at the right price, without paying a markup for inventory nobody’s verified.”

That’s the gap curated supply paths exist to close. If you’re evaluating CTV as a channel for the first time, the Ichiro platform is built specifically around solving that supply quality problem.

CTV Ad Formats and Inventory Types

Not all CTV ad inventory looks the same. Buyers generally encounter four formats.

Pre-roll ads play before the content starts, similar to a commercial break before a show. Mid-roll ads run during natural breaks within the content itself, mimicking traditional commercial breaks on linear TV. Pause ads appear when a viewer pauses their content, a CTV-native format with no real linear TV equivalent. Shoppable and interactive ads let viewers take action directly from the screen, using a remote or a connected second device.

Inventory also varies by source. Ad-supported streaming services (AVOD), free ad-supported streaming TV channels (FAST channels), and live sports broadcasts on streaming platforms all represent distinct inventory pools with different pricing, demand, and audience behavior.

FAST channels in particular have become a growing area of interest for D2C and acquisition-focused marketers, since they combine lower CPMs with an audience that behaves more like cable viewers than premium streaming subscribers. Live sports, meanwhile, commands a premium but delivers some of the highest completion rates and engagement in CTV, which is why it’s worth packaging separately from general entertainment inventory.

How CTV Fits Into Programmatic Buying

Most CTV inventory today is bought and sold programmatically, meaning through automated, data-driven auctions rather than direct, manually negotiated deals.

Two platform types sit on either side of that auction. A demand-side platform (DSP) is the tool advertisers and agencies use to bid on and buy inventory across publishers. A supply-side platform (SSP) is the tool publishers and streaming services use to make their inventory available to buyers. If you’ve worked in programmatic before, this distinction is familiar. If CTV is new territory for you, it’s the most important one to keep straight.

Buyers can transact in a few ways. The open exchange lets anyone bid on available inventory in real time, with the least guarantee of quality or context. Private marketplace (PMP) deals reserve specific inventory for a buyer or small group of buyers, typically at a negotiated price and with more transparency into where ads will run. Programmatic guaranteed deals lock in both price and volume in advance, similar to a traditional direct buy but executed through programmatic infrastructure.

For CTV specifically, PMP deals have become the preferred path for buyers who care about brand safety, viewability, and avoiding inventory that’s been resold multiple times before reaching the DSP. Connected TV refers to premium content streaming through apps on smart TVs or over-the-top devices, where ads can be served before content or during traditional commercial breaks  Not all CTV inventory carries that label, even when it’s marketed that way.

If you want a closer look at how publishers decide which buyers see their inventory first, our guide on sell-side decisioning breaks down that side of the auction in more detail.

Common Challenges When Buying CTV Inventory

CTV’s growth has outpaced the infrastructure built to manage it cleanly, and that creates real friction for buyers.

Fragmentation is the first problem. Unlike linear TV, where a handful of networks controlled most inventory, CTV supply is spread across dozens of streaming services, each with its own SSP relationships and ad tech stack. A buyer chasing reach often ends up stitching together inventory from multiple sources with inconsistent data attached to each.

Bidstream data quality is the second problem. Not every impression that arrives in a DSP comes with reliable signals about content context, device type, or audience. Buyers who bid blind, or who rely on self-reported data from sellers with an incentive to inflate quality, end up paying premium CPMs for inventory that doesn’t perform.

Duplicate and resold inventory is the third. The same impression can pass through multiple SSPs before reaching a DSP, sometimes inflating price without adding any real value for the buyer.

These problems aren’t unique to any one platform or seller. They’re structural, and they’re exactly what supply path optimization and curation exist to address.

How Curated CTV Inventory Solves These Challenges

Curation adds a layer of verification and enrichment between raw supply and the DSP, so buyers aren’t left to sort through fragmented, unverified inventory on their own. We’ve covered how this works across programmatic more broadly in our guide on ad curation, and the same principles apply directly to CTV.

A curated approach typically does three things. It verifies inventory quality before it reaches the buyer, filtering out duplicate paths and unverified placements. It enriches the bidstream with additional context, like content category, device signals, or audience data, that sellers don’t always provide on their own. And it packages that inventory into PMP deals that buyers can activate directly in their existing DSP.

This is the model behind Ichiro, built to be SSP agnostic rather than tied to any single supply source. Bid enrichment plays a central role here too, layering additional bidstream data onto inventory so DSP-side decisioning has more to work with at the moment of the bid, not after the impression has already been wasted.

For agency traders managing CTV across multiple clients, this matters operationally as much as strategically. Instead of vetting dozens of individual SSP relationships, a curated supply path consolidates that work into deals that are pre-vetted and ready to activate.

Live Sports and FAST Channels: Where CTV Inventory Is Headed

Two inventory categories deserve specific attention for anyone planning a CTV strategy: live sports and FAST channels.

Live sports has migrated heavily to streaming, and it brings an audience that’s hard to find anywhere else in CTV: large, engaged, and watching in real time rather than on-demand. That real-time viewing means higher completion rates, but it also means inventory windows are time-sensitive and often command premium pricing.

FAST channels operate at the opposite end of the spectrum. They mimic the channel-surfing experience of cable, ad-supported and free to the viewer, which makes them attractive to D2C brands chasing acquisition rather than brand awareness. CPMs tend to run lower, and the audience composition skews toward viewers who’ve cut the cord on traditional pay-TV entirely.

Packaging these two inventory types together, rather than treating CTV as one undifferentiated pool, lets buyers match campaign goals to the right environment instead of defaulting to whatever’s easiest to find.

Getting Started With CTV Advertising

If you’re planning your first CTV campaign, a few steps will save you from the most common early mistakes.

Start by defining what success looks like before you touch a DSP. Brand awareness campaigns and performance-driven acquisition campaigns call for different inventory, different formats, and different measurement frameworks.

Next, audit the supply paths available to you. Ask any potential partner how many times an impression typically changes hands before it reaches your DSP, and what data verification happens along the way.

Then, decide between open exchange and PMP deals based on how much control you need over where your ads actually run. For most brand-safety-conscious buyers, PMP deals are worth the modest premium.

Finally, build in measurement from day one. CTV’s biggest advantage over linear TV is the ability to connect exposure to downstream action, but only if that measurement infrastructure is in place before the campaign launches, not added after the fact.

For a more detailed walkthrough of the buying process itself, our beginner’s guide to buying television advertising is a good next read.

If you’d rather skip the trial-and-error phase, booking a meeting with our team is the fastest way to get a curated CTV strategy built around your specific goals.

FAQ

What does CTV mean in advertising?

CTV stands for connected TV. In advertising, it refers to video ads delivered to viewers through internet-connected television devices, including smart TVs, streaming sticks like Roku or Fire TV, and gaming consoles. CTV advertising combines the format of traditional TV commercials with the targeting and measurement capabilities of digital advertising.

Is CTV the same as streaming TV?

Not exactly. Streaming TV is a broader term covering any video content delivered over the internet, while CTV specifically refers to that content being watched on an actual television screen rather than a phone, tablet, or computer. All CTV is streaming, but not all streaming is CTV.

How do you buy CTV advertising?

CTV advertising is typically bought programmatically through a demand-side platform (DSP), either on the open exchange or through private marketplace (PMP) deals. PMP deals offer more control over inventory quality and brand safety, which is why many agencies and brands prefer curated supply paths over open exchange buying for CTV specifically.

What’s the difference between CTV and OTT?

OTT (over-the-top) refers to any internet-delivered video content, watchable on phones, tablets, computers, or TVs. CTV is the subset of OTT limited to the television screen. The distinction matters for media buyers because inventory quality, completion rates, and pricing all vary by screen type.

Conclusion

CTV isn’t a future channel anymore; it’s the channel most viewers are already watching, and the budgets have followed. Understanding what CTV is, how it differs from OTT, and how programmatic buying works on this channel is the foundation for everything that comes next: choosing between open exchange and PMP deals, evaluating supply paths, and deciding when curation is worth the investment over raw reach.

The advertisers getting the most out of CTV right now aren’t necessarily spending the most. They’re the ones buying smarter, with verified supply paths and enriched data informing every bid. If you’re ready to move past the “what is CTV” stage and into building an actual strategy, learn about our no B.S. approach or book a meeting to talk through your specific goals.