Study: Kids AVoD best for transparency
July 29, 2022
The emergence of the streaming era has led to a transformative shift in media and entertainment. As consumers continue to shift from linear to streaming, it’s important to better understand how they are choosing to view content and what ad experiences they find worthwhile, especially as ad-supported video-on-demand (AVoD) viewership in the US surges. Moreover, how can brands more effectively reach these audiences?
To support advertisers and agencies, industry analyst and Co-Founder of TVREV Alan Wolk carried out a study looking at the current state of ad-supported OTT.
To gain a better understanding of all of the issues they are facing and how they are solving for those issues, Wolk spoke with execs at ad agencies, media buying agencies, ad tech companies, brands, CTV apps, studios and streaming device manufacturers. Key findings from the study include:
- Transparency is the major issue the industry will need to solve. The biggest roadblock facing CTV in the battle to gain more ad dollars is the lack of transparency as to where ads are running when placed programmatically via open auction programmatic (e.g., open exchanges and open auctions.) While there are solutions out there, ranging from extended content IDs to watermarking, they need to be implemented on an industry-wide basis. These solutions will help with measurement and verification issues too. But it is untenable to not let brands know where their ads ran and they will not increase spending in a way that even remotely keeps pace with viewership until it is solved.
- Ad-supported kids and family programming will be one of the brightest spots on CTV. Because children’s television is subject to COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) regulations, everything must be bought directly from the programmer. As such, brands know exactly where their ads ran – what shows, what times, even what position in the ad pods. Additionally, not only does a COPPA-compliant direct sales methodology help solve for transparency issues, but they provide brands with a brand-safe and suitable environment for their messaging. However, brands need to move quickly. As more families cut the cable cord and sign up for ad-free streaming services, reaching these families will become increasingly difficult. This will increase the value of these programmes and platforms on ad-supported CTV.
- Consumers are now watching as much ad-supported CTV as ad-free and they are spending more time on streaming than on linear. Overall, linear would be the big loser as ratings drop and key segments are more easily reached on CTV. However, the shift of ad budgets to CTV is not happening faster as CTV inventory is not easy to buy.