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As the broadcast industry continues its shift toward ad-supported streaming, all players are looking for ways to double down on the digital ad revenues that haven’t always been easy going. Amid a gold rush of new ad formats, pricing tiers and addressable models, few content providers have truly cracked the code of interactive, shoppable TV. If broadcasters and streamers want to compete with digital-native giants like YouTube and Meta, they’ll need to catch up fast — and so will the ad ecosystem that underpins their future.
Show Me The Interactivity
Advertisers are following audiences to CTV and OTT platforms in record numbers. Global CTV ad spend is projected to double from $20.5 billion in 2023 to $41.2 billion by 2028, according to PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2024–28. But while server-side ad insertion (SSAI) technologies are now commonplace and helping platforms deliver personalized ads at scale, the real monetization game-changer lies in what comes next: interactivity. The ability to transform passive viewers into active consumers is the new frontier in streaming — and it’s still largely untapped.
This matters because today’s viewers expect more than lean-back experiences. They’re used to clicking, swiping and purchasing within the same app. Social platforms like Instagram and TikTok have normalized the blend of entertainment and commerce — and they’ve been able to attract a much larger pool of digital advertisers than traditional broadcast with highly personalized, segmented targeting methods. So, why should CTV be any different?
The appetite is there. According to Parks