OTT Statistics for Newbies—An Infographic to Get Your Grips

OTT Statistics for Newbies—An Infographic to Get Your Grips
By Madhive Marketing
February 02, 2023
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It’s no big secret local advertising is on an upswing—and that OTT is playing a significant role in the growth. But just what kind of upswing are we looking at? How can buyers and sellers take advantage of it? And what ongoing challenges exist in the market? 

We teamed up with BIA Advisory Services on some research to find out—here are some of the top OTT statistics and takeaways.

OTT vs. CTV

First things first. What, exactly, does OTT mean? And how does it differ from CTV? These terms are often used interchangeably, but technically, CTV is the subset of OTT advertising in which video content is played on a connected television screen.

CTV with a tv screen icon and OTT showing icons of laptop, tablet and phone

OTT’s share of local advertising spend is on the rise

image showing $167.4B in 2022 local advertising spend

The local advertising marketplace will reach $167.4 billion in 2022 as local, regional, and national buyers alike compete to bring their messages to local audiences. 

graphic showing the stats 19% decrease in local TV spending by 2026 and 23% decrease in local cable spending by 2026

While TV and cable still earn the lion’s share of local video ad spending, the momentum is shifting to digital video ad formats. Between now and 2026, local TV spending will decrease by nearly 19%, and local cable will decline by almost a quarter (23%). 

On the other hand, all digital video ad platforms are in growth mode.

Graphic showing stats including 57% YOY OTT growth, $2B OTT spend in 2022, and $3.5B OTT spend in 2023

The fastest-growing media segment is OTT with an annual growth rate of 57% in 2022. BIA expects OTT spending to exceed $2 billion in 2022—and this will increase to $3.5 billion by 2026.

Chart showing Local Media Platform Growth from 2021-2022

Who’s using OTT advertising the most?

Some industries are leaning into this new wave of OTT more than others. These industries will see the most growth in spend between 2022 and 2026.

Chart showing who's using OTT advertising the most including Tier 1 auto manufacturers, legal services, hospitals, tier 2 local automobile dealers association an tier 3 new car dealers (in order from most to least) Quote that reads "Legal services and home improvements are big investors in digital media channels and are bringing in the most revenue to the local stations across various DMAs" from a local market TV group manager

Related content: Auto Dealership Marketing: 5 Reasons to Add CTV to the Mix

Extending reach beyond broadcast

Cord cutting continues to be a clear and present danger to linear TV.  As more and more viewers move to streaming video, broadcast may not provide enough eyeballs for big advertisers. OTT plays a critical role in reach extension, providing broadcast stations and their buyers with additional publishers when local TV impressions aren’t sufficient.

graphic showing stats including 20% YoY growth in digital revenue for station and 25% of total station revenue driven by digital

One local TV group executive BIA interviewed sings the praises of OTT and programmatic trading to better serve his clients—and grow beyond his broadcast sales. His station aggressively markets audience extension through programmatic OTT. With this strategy, his station has grown its digital revenue to 25% of total revenue, and this has been growing up to 20% annually

Quote reading: "30% to 40% of TV ad campaigns' impressions should come from over-the-top (OTT) advertising in order to optimize results"

A tale of two OTT models

For buyers and sellers that want to get in on the local OTT action, the OTT marketplace operates in two primary trading models.

Graphic showing difference between direct and programmatic. Direct is human-facilitated trading and processing using insertion orders (IOs) in a largely manual process and programmatic is an automated buying process where buyers use a demand-side platform (DSP) to plan, price, and bid in real time (RTB)

By 2023 digital video programmatic trading will nearly triple from 2019 to reach more than half (53%) of all digital display programmatic trading. Why? There’s plenty of upside.

Graphic showing advantages of programmatic OTT platforms including: 
- ability to identify and activate highly targeted segments across publisher platforms 
- more control over premium inventory 
- value-based pricing serving both buyer and seller goals 
- critical fraud protection 
- accurate and real-time campaign optimization, analytics, and performance metrics

Buyers and sellers need to brush up

While OTT advertising is on the rise, many buyers and sellers alike still don’t know much about it. The market needs education, including around the following gaps BIA identified.

  • How to plan, activate and manage programmatic campaigns

  • The ability to target audiences instead of set spots

  • The difference between OTT and CTV inventory (in terms of value and pricing)

Ready to brush up on OTT yourself?

Dive deeper into all of these OTT stats in our full research report. Check it out here: The Local Programmatic Market: OTT and Digital Reach Extension Channels

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