Streaming TV Advertising: Complete Guide for 2025

by Isabel Greenfield

9 Min Read

OTT, CTV, AVOD, SVOD–the world of streaming advertising can seem like a whole new language – one filled with acronyms. As people continue to cut the cord, advertisers are following, jumping from their previous linear ad campaigns to streaming ads.

Joining the shift to streaming TV advertising doesn’t need to feel overwhelming – let’s break down the basics.

What Is Streaming TV Advertising?

Streaming TV advertising is advertising that runs within TV content watched through an internet-connected device rather than ads you may see on traditional linear television. These streaming TV ads will appear before or during content found on ad-supported networks and apps.

Free ad-supported TV is continuing to grow in popularity. Two-thirds of viewers said they would prefer to watch ads rather than pay for a subscription to watch content, as long as those ads are relevant and not too burdensome.

Benefits of Streaming TV Ads

Streaming TV advertising offers several distinct advantages making it an absolute must for marketers, including:

Precise Targeting: Streaming advertising uses sophisticated data analytics to specifically target demographics, interests, and behaviors, thereby making the ads more relevant and effective for each viewer.
Advanced Measurement and Analytics: This form of advertising provides in-depth insights into how viewers engage with the ads, the overall effectiveness of the campaigns, and the breadth of the audience reached, similar to digital marketing metrics.
Greater Flexibility and Real-time Optimization: Streaming advertising allows advertisers to make swift adjustments to their campaigns, optimizing them in real time based on current viewer data and feedback.
Higher Engagement: Typically, streaming platforms host highly engaged audiences who are more likely to interact with and recall advertisements, significantly enhancing brand memory and recognition.
Cost-Effectiveness: Compared to traditional TV advertising, streaming advertising is more cost-efficient, offering the ability to reach broad audiences without incurring the high costs associated with prime-time TV slots.

How Does Streaming Advertising Work?

In a nutshell, advertisers use ad-supported platforms to serve targeted ads to viewers. Streaming ads can be interspersed within a show or movie, akin to traditional linear or cable TV advertising breaks, but with the added benefit of detailed analytics and viewer data for measuring ad performance.

From an advertiser perspective, here are the four simple steps involved in getting your ads on streaming services:

Identify your target audience: Determine the specific demographics, interests, and behaviors of the potential customers you want to reach on streaming platforms.
Develop your ad creative: Create compelling and platform-appropriate ads, whether they’re video, audio, or banners, that resonate with your target audience.
Launch your campaign: Buy advertising space on streaming services, often using automated tools like programmatic advertising to target your audience efficiently.
Monitor performance: Track the effectiveness of your ads using metrics like views and engagement, and adjust your strategy for improved results over time.

Now, let’s discuss a few terms that are often used in conjunction with streaming TV advertising: OTT, CTV, AVOD, and SVOD.

OTT vs. CTV

What does OTT advertising mean? OTT (over-the-top) advertising refers to how content is streamed across devices, for example via an internet connection. ‘Over-the-top’ implies that the content is going “over” your cable box or satellite via an internet connection.

What does CTV advertising mean? Unlike OTT, which refers to the way that content is streamed, CTV (connected television) is the medium or format that is used to stream content—think smart TVs, gaming consoles, or streaming devices.

AVOD vs. SVOD

Now that we have outlined OTT and CTV, let’s take a look into a few types of CTV (aka OTT!) content.

AVOD and SVOD are two types of content found on streaming platforms and ones that we’ve already mentioned above.

AVOD stands for “Advertising-based Video On Demand” meaning TV content that has ads throughout.
SVOD stands for “Subscription Video on Demand” and refers to channels with content behind a paywall; viewers must pay to view the content, usually without the inclusion of ads.

Despite a frenzy of SVOD channel launches over the past year (including lots of channels ending with “plus”), viewers are starting to be selective about what services they will pay for, opting instead to watch ads in exchange for having to pay.

What Streaming Platforms Serve Ads?

When it comes to the word “platform,” people use it in multiple ways. “Platform” may refer to the actual device used for streaming. Popular platforms include Roku, Fire TV from Amazon, and Apple TV. Alternatively, “platform” may mean a channel found on one of these devices, whether that’s Netflix, Pluto TV, or Disney+. These channels are available across the devices listed above, much like an app is available on both iPhone and Android phones.

A few examples of ad-supported streaming services, or those with ad-supported tiers, include:

Netflix
Hulu
Peacock
Sling
Paramount+
HBO Max
Pluto TV

So where do the ads actually show up? It comes down to the type of channel. As mentioned above, AVOD (advertising-supported video on demand) channels have ad breaks within their content in exchange for offering their content for free. This is where streaming ads are served, no matter which device the channel is accessed through.

How Are Streaming TV Audiences Targeted?

Streaming advertising provides marketers with precision targeting capabilities that bring together the best of television’s visual impact and digital marketing’s analytical prowess.

First-Party Data

Streaming TV advertising thrives on first-party data, which comes directly from advertisers’ customer databases, including email lists, purchase history, and website interactions. This data allows brands to target high-value audiences who have already engaged with their products, enabling personalized campaigns that foster loyalty and drive conversions.

Third-Party Data

Third-party data expands audience targeting by incorporating demographic, behavioral, and interest-based information from external providers. By blending this data with streaming platforms’ analytics, advertisers can reach new customers who share traits with their most profitable segments, opening doors to scalable audience acquisition.

IP Targeting

IP targeting ensures ads are delivered to specific households or geographic areas by matching their IP addresses with targeting criteria. This hyper-local approach is ideal for businesses with regional campaigns, allowing them to engage viewers with highly relevant messaging that resonates on a community level.

Frequency Caps

Frequency caps control how often ads are shown to the same viewer, ensuring a balance between brand recall and viewer fatigue. By optimizing exposure, advertisers can maximize impact while maintaining a positive audience experience, resulting in stronger engagement and higher campaign efficiency.

Best Practices for Streaming TV Ads

Crafting effective streaming TV ads requires a strategy that blends creativity, data-driven targeting, and audience-first thinking to drive measurable outcomes.

Personalized Storytelling: Use first-party data to create ads that resonate with individual viewers by addressing their specific interests and needs.
Dynamic Ad Variations: Develop multiple versions of your creative to test different elements like tone, visuals, and CTAs, ensuring you avoid ad fatigue while maximizing performance.
Strategic Ad Placement: Leverage insights from viewing behaviors to serve ads at optimal times during a program for higher engagement and recall.
Seamless Cross-Device Integration: Align your CTV campaigns with ads on other platforms to create a unified brand experience that follows viewers across their digital journey.

How Much Does Streaming TV Advertising Cost?

Advertising on streaming TV not only reaches an audience migrating from traditional linear TV, but it is also more cost-efficient than previous TV advertising options.

Linear advertising requires big budget commitments upfront, limiting which businesses can take advantage of the inventory, as opposed to CTV advertising which can be purchased on a month-by-month basis and be spread out across various campaigns.

Not only is the commitment less, but streaming advertising dollars go much further in reaching the right audience. Linear TV ads are bought on Gross Rating Points (GRP), essentially hoping that a percentage of viewers are within the target audience. Instead, streaming service ads can be specifically targeted to the correct audience, whether that is a specific demographic or an interest (ex. streamers who are currently looking to purchase an automobile). This ensures that everyone who sees the ad within the campaign has a high potential to convert.

Speaking of conversions, this is yet another area that makes CTV advertising even more efficient than linear TV advertising. With MNTN Performance TV, TV ads are no longer just an upper-level marketing tactic. Advertisers can track lower-funnel metrics and KPIs, such as return on ad spend (ROAS) and site visits. This added level of transparency allows for all ad dollars to be spent efficiently, ultimately making CTV ad campaigns more cost-efficient than linear campaigns.

Related: How Much Does a Commercial Cost? TV Advertising Costs Explained

Why You Need Performance TV

Now that you are a streaming advertising expert, it’s time to take advantage of your know-how and get your ads in front of this key audience. That’s where we come in. Performance TV makes it easy to launch a campaign, reach your target audience, and track performance.

Campaigns ASAP: MNTN’s platform is as easy as setting up your other performance marketing campaigns – just upload your creative, select your audience and you’re all set. No need to sweat if you don’t have creative available – MNTN’s Creative-as-a-Subscription can help with that.
Reach the Right People: Explore the world outside linear’s GRPs with both first-party and third-party targeting options. Retarget those who have visited your site or upload your CRM lists to connect with your loyal customers.
Measure Your Success: We know that how your campaign performs is of the utmost importance. Easily create new reporting dashboards, select the data most important to your objectives, and rearrange the layout for easy viewing. Plus, Performance TV can fully integrate with your Google Analytics account so you can easily compare results to your initiatives on other performance platforms.
Appear within Quality Content: You can rest easy knowing that your ads will only run alongside Living Room Quality content. This means that all campaigns will run exclusively on premium content. MNTN offers a TV Network Report so you can see which channels perform best for your business.

Advertising on Streaming Services Works.

Your audience is streaming – your TV ads should be too. With custom targeting and in-depth reporting, now is the time to take advantage of streaming TV ads and see what the CTV world has to offer.