Top 5 Media Landscape Insights – October

Stay on top of today’s constantly changing media environment with DirectAvenue’s Top 5 Insights. We give you specific network updates and emerging media trends in a digestible format.

October 1, 2023

1. CTV is lifting the programmatic market -CTV advertising expenditure is expected to experience a shift towards more modest increases in the low double-digit range. CTV is anticipated to remain the primary driver of market expansion in the coming years, and is set to surpass that of mobile by more than threefold, while programmatic advertising spend on desktop and laptop computers is projected to remain unchanged this year. Over 2 in 5 new programmatic ad dollars are headed toward CTV.
2. Amazon Ads on Prime Video in 2024– As streamers desire to increase revenue as production costs increase, prime video will offer a more expensive ad-free alternative in key markets starting in the new year. Amazon.com Inc., like other streaming platforms aiming to enhance revenue from their content, is set to display advertisements on its Prime Video service in mitigating escalating expenses while amplifying the strength of an already thriving advertising sector. Why pivot now? Amazon believes it will use the extra earnings from selling commercial time in hopes of “investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.” Amazon’s shift toward ads leaves Apple TV+ as the only major streaming platform to not have them.
3. Local Broadcast TV Forecasted to $23.8B in 2024– After an expected $19 billion this year, local TV advertising will climb 11%, according to BIA Advisory Services. Apart from the political advertising category, automotive advertising is expected to increase to nearly $192.6 million. Not to mention, spending on CTV advertising by local TV stations is projected to increase by 30.4%, reaching approximately $3 billion. Concurrently, digitally-owned TV stations will experience an 11.3% growth, reaching $2.1 billion in revenue.
4. iSpot.tv announces acquisition – of 605, an attribution and measurement company set to boost iSpot’s TV and video advertising effectiveness. “We launched 605 seven years ago with the idea that high-quality data and advanced analytics would make television advertising even more effective,” said Kristin Dolan, founder of 605 and currently the CEO of AMC Networks. iSpot’s obtainment of 605 is said to influence its “powerful combination of technology and talent,” among the areas of media planning, data science, business outcome attribution, and advanced audience measurement.
5. Hulu becomes #1 App in Ad Spend- According to Pixalate, an intelligence platform and fraud provider, Apple TV’s global share of open programmatic ads took a plunge in Q2 of this year. At about 4% of ad share delivered to CTV in 2023, Apple TV fell behind other prominent leaders such as Amazon at 9%, Samsung at 20%, and Roku at 45%. In the second quarter of this year, Hulu ranked as the top app in terms of estimated open programmatic ad expenditure on Apple TV devices, with Atmosphere TV, Bally Sports, BBC America, and Fubo TV following closely behind. Today, 12% of the 19,564 apps in the Apple TV store endorse open programmatic ads.