CTV vs. Traditional TV Buying: What Advertisers Need to Know Now

Connected TV (CTV) ad spend is booming – but outdated buying strategies are holding advertisers back. It’s time to upgrade the playbook.

Over the past few years, Connected TV has rapidly evolved from a niche opportunity into a must-have in modern media strategies. With audiences cutting the cord and flocking to streaming platforms, CTV has emerged as one of the fastest-growing channels in digital advertising. eMarketer projects that CTV ad spend in the U.S. alone will reach nearly $40 billion in 2025, surpassing traditional TV in growth rate and grabbing an increasing share of brand budgets.

Yet, despite this surge, many advertisers are still treating CTV like traditional TV – buying inventory based on content instead of audience, using outdated metrics, and missing the full potential of programmatic capabilities.

So, how exactly does CTV buying differ from traditional TV – and what should advertisers do to thrive in this new environment?

1. From Content-Centric to Audience-Centric Buying

Traditional TV buying revolves around media plans built on content placement: ad spots are purchased in specific shows or time slots on linear channels. It’s a broad-reach game, designed to hit general demographics during “prime time.” Audience targeting is approximate, inferred through ratings panels and general demographic estimates.

CTV flips that model.

CTV platforms – think Roku, Hulu, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV – are built to reach users across devices and apps, not just during a particular show or time slot. Advertisers can layer data to target based on:

• Demographics and psychographics

• Behavioral data (e.g., past purchases or streaming habits)

• Location and household-level identifiers

• Custom audiences and lookalikes

This level of targeting simply isn’t possible in the linear TV world. In CTV, you're not buying shows – you're buying the viewers themselves.

2. Programmatic: The CTV Superpower

Unlike traditional TV, which depends on upfronts, manual negotiations, and fixed pricing, CTV operates through programmatic technology. This brings automation, speed, and flexibility to the buying process.

Programmatic CTV allows advertisers to:

• Access inventory across multiple streaming apps in real time

• Apply first- and third-party data to precisely target audiences

• Optimize mid-flight, reallocating budgets on the go

• Cap frequency to avoid overexposure

• Bid dynamically, paying the right price for the right impression

It’s a fundamentally more efficient model. Instead of locking in millions upfront, advertisers can test, learn, and scale with agility. And they can do it across the fragmented CTV landscape without relying on a single publisher’s ecosystem.

3. Smarter Measurement and Transparent Results

Linear TV has long relied on proxy metrics like GRPs (Gross Rating Points), TRPs, and reach estimates. These numbers are built on limited panel data, often lagging and imprecise. Attribution is murky at best.

• CTV measurement is much more actionable.

• Advertisers gain access to a wealth of granular data:

• Impression-level tracking

• Completion and view-through rates

• Cross-device attribution (linking CTV exposure to website visits, app downloads, or purchases)

• Incrementality testing

• Lift studies and brand recall

Moreover, campaign performance can be tied directly to business outcomes – not just eyeballs. Did the viewer take action? Did they convert? Did the campaign move the needle on brand metrics?

These insights enable smarter, more performance-driven campaigns. And crucially, they help justify CTV’s higher CPMs with clearer ROI.

4. Creative Strategy Needs a Rethink

One common mistake? Repurposing traditional 30-second TV spots for streaming audiences – without any adjustment.

CTV viewers behave differently. They’re often watching on-demand, across devices, and in different contexts (binge-watching a series, streaming news on their phone, etc.). Successful CTV advertisers adapt their creative strategies accordingly.

That includes:

• Shorter, punchier ad formats (15s or 6s can be more effective than traditional 30s)

• Contextual creative aligned with the content or platform

• Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) to serve different variants by audience segment

• Clear calls to action for direct engagement or conversion

And since CTV allows for A/B testing and mid-flight swaps, advertisers can iterate in real time, optimizing toward the best-performing assets.

5. Don’t Fall into the “Digital TV” Trap

Many brands assume that CTV is just traditional TV, streamed. That assumption leads to missteps – like focusing solely on reach, avoiding data use due to legacy habits, or overinvesting in walled garden platforms where transparency is limited.

In reality, CTV should be treated as a digital performance channel. It offers the reach and storytelling power of TV, but with the precision, accountability, and speed of digital.

• That said, it’s not just another display channel either. Success in CTV requires an understanding of:

• Ad podding and competitive separation

• Device-specific performance (e.g., Smart TVs vs. mobile)

• Streaming publisher nuances

• Viewability and fraud prevention in OTT environments

Advertisers need partners, platforms, and strategies that are purpose-built for the unique dynamics of CTV.

6. The Role of Walled Gardens and the Open Web

While platforms like YouTube, Amazon, and Hulu offer powerful CTV inventory, they come with limitations – namely, data restrictions and black-box reporting. Advertisers often face challenges accessing log-level data or applying external attribution.

That’s why many are embracing open-web CTV solutions that provide:

• Greater transparency

• Interoperability with other media buys

• Access to independent measurement partners

• Holistic campaign visibility across channels

Programmatic CTV platforms like AdEclipse help bridge that gap – offering scale, precision, and insight without the lock-in of walled gardens.

7. Hybrid Buying Models: The Best of Both Worlds

Traditional TV still has value – especially for high-reach campaigns tied to tentpole events like the Super Bowl or the Olympics. But increasingly, brands are adopting hybrid buying strategies, combining the broad reach of linear with the precision of CTV.

This model allows advertisers to: – Extend reach beyond cable subscribers – Reinforce brand messaging through sequential storytelling – Retarget high-value viewers across devices – Fill gaps left by declining live TV audiences

And as more households become CTV-only, this balance will continue shifting.

The Bottom Line

CTV isn’t just the future of video – it’s the present. And it requires a new approach, rooted in data, agility, and performance.

Advertisers who continue applying legacy TV logic to CTV risk overspending, under-delivering, and missing key audiences. But those who embrace CTV’s programmatic potential – audience targeting, real-time optimization, smarter measurement – are already seeing stronger results and higher ROI.

At AdEclipse, we help brands navigate this shift with programmatic solutions built for impact. From campaign setup to creative strategy to attribution, we ensure every dollar in your video budget is working harder.

The landscape has changed. The winners are the ones who’ve changed with it.