👁🗨 CTV Advertising Shifts Focus to the Viewer
European streaming platform Rakuten TV has presented its "Beyond the Break" study, which examines the transformation of the Connected TV (CTV) advertising market. The findings indicate that the European Smart TV market has entered a qualitatively new stage of maturity.
The top priorities for brands are no longer just reach metrics, but audience attention retention, ad recall, and the overall viewer experience.
The study, which covered key European markets, documented the total penetration of the channel into business strategies: 100% of surveyed advertising professionals already use CTV or plan to integrate it into their media mix in the near future. Furthermore, 70% of respondents intend to increase their investments in this segment over the next 12 months.
Against the backdrop of this growth, experts identified a disconnect between advertiser goals and viewer expectations, which can be bridged by transitioning to viewer-first strategies. The survey revealed that 82.3% of European viewers are receptive to advertising on Smart TVs, provided it is relevant to their interests and seamlessly integrated into the viewing experience.
A major trend is the shift away from traditional in-content video commercials. Although pre-roll and mid-roll formats remain the most prevalent (utilized by 57.6% of companies), only 6.1% of advertisers consider them to be the most effective. Consequently, the focus is shifting toward homescreen advertising—35.6% of market participants identified it as a priority, and net investment growth in this format across Europe is projected at 64.6%.
Advertisers are also actively seeking new solutions: 52% of respondents want to more accurately measure format recall, 49.1% see creative optimization as the primary growth driver, and 43.1% emphasize the need for more precise contextual targeting.
Source: Broadband TV News
