Digital Video Set to Capture Nearly 60% Of All TV-Video Ad Spend In 2025

 

Digital Video Set to Capture Nearly 60% Of All TV-Video Ad Spend In 2025

IAB data finds CTV rebounded to double-digit growth in 2024. Sports, live streaming events and programmatic ad tools fuel CTV growth.

A resurgence in live events and sports programming on streaming platforms, coupled with the expansion of self-serve and programmatic ad tools, helped CTV rebound with 16% year-over-year (YoY) growth in 2024, according to IAB’s 2025 Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report: Part One. 

Now in its 12th year, the report, developed in partnership with Advertiser Perceptions and Guideline, provides a comprehensive snapshot of the U.S. digital video marketplace across CTV, social video, and online video, surfacing how and where ad dollars are flowing and why.

“2024 was a pivotal year for digital video advertising. With high-quality content moving to streaming, advancements in advertising technology, and an influx of new inventory accelerated growth for both consumers and advertisers,” said David Cohen, IAB CEO. “CTV is making it clear it’s a go-to channel for both viewers and advertisers and is expected to continue growing along with social video and online video.”

Digital Video Is Pulling Further Ahead of Linear TV, Solidifying Its Dominance

This year’s findings “underscore a clear shift in momentum as digital video is expected to capture nearly 60% of total TV/video ad spend in 2025, double its share from just five years ago,” IAB says. “This growth builds on a major turning point in 2024, when it surpassed linear TV for the first time. Digital video ad spend rose 18% in 2024 to $64 billion and is projected to grow another 14% in 2025, reaching $72 billion — two to three times faster than total media overall.”

“The video industry continues its transformative shift towards streaming driven by content, creators, technology, and improved measurement. However, it is important to acknowledge that ongoing economic uncertainty, including tariffs, geopolitical conflicts, and changing consumer confidence, the marketplace in 2025 is more difficult to predict than ever before,” Cohen adds. 

All three types of digital video, CTV, social video, and online video, are driving the overall channel’s trajectory, with each posting double-digit growth.

Digital Video Category	Ad Spend in 2023	Ad Spend in 2024	YoY Growth (2024 vs. 2023)	Projected Ad Spend in 2025
CTV	$20.3B	$23.6B	16%	$26.6B
Social Video	$19.5B	$23.7B	21%	$27.2B
Online Video	$14.2B	$16.6B	17%	$18.6B

“CTV and social video are core pillars of a brand’s comprehensive and integrated media strategy,” says Chris Bruderle, IAB VP, industry insights & content strategy. “Consumer attention has already moved to these platforms, and advertisers are meeting them there — not just for the scale, but for the ability to precisely target, measure performance across devices, and drive real business outcomes. These channels are now foundational to any effective media strategy.”

CPG, Retail & Pharma Drive Digital Video Ad Spend Growth Through 2025

As the digital video marketplace continues to grow, more categories are ramping up their ad spend to connect with consumers where they watch content the most. In 2025, most major categories are set to increase digital video ad budgets by double-digits with CPG (13%), retail (18%), and pharma (19%) leading the way. These categories are capitalizing on advanced targeting, including AI-driven personalization, real-time insights, and shoppable ad formats to drive deeper engagement and more immediate consumer action.

 

TV Viewer Petition: Keeping The 'Late Show' Around?

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Yesterday

The outcry over the cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” has led to one of the older forms of protests -- and possible revival: A TV viewer petition campaign.

Over 40,000 people have now signed on to petition to encourage CBS to keep the show around.

Unlike other efforts in the past years to save a TV show, “The Late Show” was not one that suffered in viewership among its other competitors.

Among broadcast television’s 11:35 p.m. late-night talk shows, it was the top earner, with a recent Nielsen-measured 2.4 million viewers, for live airing plus seven days of time-shifted viewing.

There was another issue -- a financial one, at least according to company executives -- that apparently it has been losing money for some time. Reports suggest the show costs $100 million a year to produce. As part of those expenses, Colbert's salary was reported to be around $15 million a year.

The trouble is, advertising only brought in around $50 million to $60 million a year for the show.

But of course, we need to factor in the timing for the move -- and Paramount Global's business overhang. Just three days after Colbert criticized a $16 million payment to the Trump Administration to settle a President-directed lawsuit, CBS said it was ending the show.

Why now -- in mid-July? If the show was losing money for a long time, why not get rid of it two, three, or four years ago?

Sometimes TV networks keep shows, sports and other content around as "loss leaders" of sorts because it helps their overall business grow.

For example, the high-priced NFL -- in terms of rights fees TV networks pay to the league -- doesn’t always put a network into a profitable situation from just advertising and distribution revenue. There can be over-reaching benefits from using the league to promote non-sports prime-time and other daypart shows.

Fox’s “Thursday Night Football” -- which aired from 2018 to 2022 -- was a possible example. According to reports, profitability was probably lower than expected for that NFL franchise. That said, both NBC and CBS, which previously shared the Thursday night package, reportedly lost money on the deal.

Good news for those behind the petition. In recent years, big consumer campaigns can help keep shows around after their initial TV network launches and cancellations.

NBC’s “Manifest” (2018) aired three seasons, and then was picked up by Netflix in 2022 for two more seasons totaling 10 episodes each.

Fox’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (2013) ran for five seasons, and was then picked by NBC in 2019 for three more seasons.

Still, one needs to factor in the current marketplace considerations -- that is, non-stop cord-cutting by legacy pay TV subscribers, with the growth of streaming.

Is “The Late Show” late to this kind of save-the-show party?

 

What The White House 'AI Action Plan' Means for Advertisers

• by Laurie Sullivan , Yesterday

The White House on Wednesday released its AI Action Plan, a set of proposals developed by the Trump administration to meet the United States' goal for dominance in artificial intelligence (AI). Here is what we know so far. 

The 90 federal actions focus on three areas: increasing private-sector innovation, expanding AI-related infrastructure and exporting American AI. The goal is set on "winning the AI race" against global competitors like China.

“The United States must also drive adoption of American AI systems, computing hardware, and standards throughout the world,” according to the document. “America currently is the global leader on data center construction, computing hardware performance, and models.”

Leveraging the U.S.’s advantage as a global alliance is only one focus. The other is to prevent adversaries from “free riding” on U.S. innovations and investments.

Positive and negative regulations are held within the plan. Technology companies have asked for deregulation, which they say will benefit advertisers.

The plan emphasizes the removal of what it considers onerous regulations and red tape. It also could reduce barriers to AI adoption, although many are concerned about the potential for undermining data and physical consumer protection.

Others are concerned that the plan will prioritize AI development over consumer safeguards, and could lead to increased skepticism toward and distrust of AI-powered advertising, potentially impacting ad effectiveness and brand reputation.

“This is an AI plan written by Big Tech,” stated Public Citizen co-president Robert Weissman. “The Trump AI plan manages both to buy into the AI over-hype and simultaneously put America on a path to a weaker AI landscape — and a weaker country overall."

Weissman is looking to gain AI for social good, rather than just corporate profit.

“If AI delivers on even a fraction of its technological promise, then it is vital we place guardrails to ensure basic norms of truthfulness are maintained, the climate crisis is not supercharged, people’s work is not appropriated by Big Tech, discrimination is intensified, wealth is not further concentrated, costs are imputed to the AI companies not their victims and catastrophic risks are avoided.”

However, some say looser regulations could make it easier and faster for advertisers to experiment with and integrate new AI technologies into their campaigns, potentially accelerating the deployment of AI-powered tools for tasks like ad placement, bidding, and optimization.

This plan favors deregulation, but a shift in political administrations could lead to a renewed focus on consumer protection and stricter regulations for AI in advertising, creating a roller coaster for businesses

 

Streaming Ads Per Hour Grow - Linear TV Still Much Higher

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 22, 2025

Streaming advertising is growing -- but overall message per hour during TV/movie content is still much less than linear TV.

That said, premium streaming leader Netflix -- in terms of advertising per hour -- comes in at 3.78 ads per hour for its original programs -- 12% higher than advertising running in its licensed TV content, at 3.33 ads per hour.

By comparison to other premium platforms, Amazon Prime Video comes in at 10.4 ads per hour for originals, with 9.8 ads for licensed content.

These results are from Ampere Analysis.

This all may seem like a lot. But consider that this equates roughly to -- at best -- around two minutes of advertising per hour for Netflix (figuring roughly 30-second commercials, at most), and five minutes for Prime Video.

By way of comparison, average TV networks are at around 15 minutes per hour of paid advertising, with about three minutes going to network promotional time. This can rise to 20 minutes or so in total for some cable TV networks.

So this is all to say that streamers have a long way to go. TV consumers factor in current streaming subscription fees -- which continue at a modest pricing, about six to nine dollars a month for an individual streaming platform.

This means for consumers, the financial proposition benefits look to go on for some time.

Looking more closely, many modern TV consumers will zero in on their efforts to trim overall legacy/streaming monthly costs.

All that will likely be cut out of mid-sized and smaller cable TV networks that are part of legacy pay TV packages (cable, satellite, virtual or telco) in modern virtual pay TV packages -- or not consider adventurous individual streaming platforms of those mid-or small size cable TV networks.

That said, consumers still aren’t all that focused on advertising exposure they have to endure. It’s more about those out-of-pocket monthly streaming costs.

That could be why Tubi, Pluto TV, Roku Channel and other free ad-supported/streaming TV networks are also still showing growth.

Overall, consider taking the phrase “limited advertising-supported” streaming platforms to heart.

 

Will More Legacy Media Be Hit By 'Trump Transaction Tax'?

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 10 hours ago

Legacy media companies that owned TV stations' FCC licenses may have more concerns under the Trump Administration -- according to a note from New Street Research.

With settlements by Paramount Global and Walt Disney as a result of Trump lawsuits, Blair Levin, media analyst of New Street Research, believes a “Trump Transaction Tax” awaits many media companies -- especially when it comes to buying or selling TV stations, which needs FCC approval for those deals to be completed.

Looking forward, he says: “The same costs that Paramount will end up paying may also be applied to Disney and Comcast, who may be interested in either buying or selling broadcast stations.”

He adds: “As Trump regards them as enemies, arguing that their coverage should cause them to lose their licenses, the FCC will heavily scrutinize any transactions they are involved with.”

In addition, Levin says Fox Corp. may now be “in the same penalty box” as Disney and Comcast Corp., for example.

Why? It’s because of Trump’s current lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal for a story involving Jeffrey Epstein.

Rupert Murdoch is chairman of Fox Corporation and executive chairman of News Corp, which owns the WSJ. He has controlling interest in both companies.

“The question for investors is whether Fox, like Paramount, will have to settle the Trump litigation before being allowed to participate in any transaction requiring FCC approval.”

All this brings concerns -- not just for big TV-network/TV station media companies, but for independent TV station groups looking to sell/buy or form partnerships as legacy TV undergoes a transformation period as the rise of streaming TV grows.

E.W. Scripps and Gray Media announced a swap of television stations in five local markets, some of which violate current rules by creating several duopolies, according Levin. Good news for those companies is that the deals will likely be legal under new FCC rules.

But is that the end of this news story?

 

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Commentary

Why It's Time for CTV Buying to Match Consumption

• by Traci Will , July 21, 2025

A quiet but monumental shift has just happened on TVs across America. In May 2025, for the first time, streaming TV viewership surpassed both cable and broadcast combined, with connected TV (CTV) accounting for 44.8% of total TV viewing in the U.S. Whether this milestone holds through the NFL season and fall broadcast debuts remains to be seen—but the momentum is undeniable.

CTV presents a game-changing opportunity for small- and medium-sized agencies and local advertisers to tap into a powerful and growing revenue stream. Despite hesitation around measurement and data complexity, many are wasting valuable time in the weeds. It's time to move past those concerns.

More Screens in More Homes with Less Money

CTV is one of the fastest-growing yet underutilized media channels for smaller brands. With it, advertisers can reach about 58% of U.S. internet-connected households—roughly 67 million homes—on a fraction of a traditional TV budget. CTV combines the emotional power of traditional TV with the precision and measurability of digital. Unlike mobile ads, which are easily skipped or muted, CTV offers a more immersive experience that captures attention.

Strategy Matters More than Mix

The question isn’t whether TV or CTV matters—it’s how to best use both. There’s no one-size-fits-all mix. Factors like your audience, goals, geography, and KPIs all influence the strategy. Thankfully, data tools have advanced. Household graphing and device-level attribution now let marketers see who’s watching, on what device, and when, making it easier to optimize and shift placements in real time.

Don’t Get Hung up on Fragmentation

Yes, CTV’s fragmentation can raise concerns about duplication and frequency. Different platforms don’t always integrate, but smart strategy and measurement tools can reduce overlap to just 1%–3%. By blending set-top box and CTV data, marketers can model audiences and improve accuracy—controlling frequency and minimizing waste.

Performance vs. Awareness: How About Both?

Some believe CTV only builds awareness, like traditional TV. But modern attribution models show its potential for performance marketing, too. CTV tracks view-through conversions—whether someone saw the full ad and took later action. It can influence every stage of the funnel, from awareness to store visits and sales.

Message Matters More than Device

Too often, marketers fixate on devices instead of message. But the emotional impact of strong creative remains key. Larger screens create a “lean back” environment that increases engagement, retention, and conversion. CTV allows storytelling to thrive—with the added bonus of digital precision.

Don’t Let “What-Ifs” Stop You

Marketers will always face uncertainty—from media shifts to data blind spots. But the cost of waiting is growing. U.S. CTV ad spend is projected to reach $26.6 billion in 2025, up 13% from last year. With viewership strong, premium content expanding, and better analytics, CTV has become the “must-buy” channel.

The Bottom Line

Don’t wait for perfect conditions. Lean into what we already know CTV can do: build brand equity, drive measurable outcomes, and deliver performance with agility and scale. Now’s the time to take advantage.

 You more than likely know about this...but there is a chance you've been slammed at work and at home that you might have missed this: Have a great and restful weekend! Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

CBS Cancels 'Late Show' Days After Colbert Jokes About Trump Deal

• by Wayne Friedman , 8 hours ago

In a shocking sudden announcement, CBS' longtime, iconic "Late Show with Stephen Colbert” -- the number-one late night show on broadcast TV -- will end after the 2025-2026 TV season in May 2026.

Against the backdrop of a monologue earlier this week where Colbert joked about Paramount Global’s $16 million settlement with the Trump Administration and the connection to Paramount's deal with Skydance Media, CBS president and co-chief executive of Paramount Global George Cheeks said in a press release:

“This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” he said, adding: “It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

Some analysts speculate that Colbert’s recent monologue may have been a factor in the quick decision to pull the show.

“While I was on vacation, my parent corporation Paramount paid Donald Trump a $16 million settlement over his “60 Minutes” lawsuit,” Colbert said on the show on Tuesday, July 15.

“As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I’m offended. I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company,” said Colbert. And then taking a comic twist, he added: “But just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”

Colbert went on to say: “I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles: Big fat bribe. This all comes as Paramount’s owners are trying to get the Trump Administration to approve the sale to a new owner -- Skydance.”

Then taking a harder comic twist, he added: “Okay, but how are they going to put pressure on Stephen Colbert if they can’t find him?” as he moved closer to the camera and pointed at his new mustache.

Colbert’s version of “The Late Show” has been the number one late night 11:35 p.m. show in terms of Nielsen-measured viewers for the last nine seasons.

The most recent Nielsen-measured viewership of “The Late Show” has been averaging 2.4 million average minute viewers for live program plus seven days of time-shifted viewing (L7). This is followed by ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 1.8 million and NBC’s “The Tonight Show" Starring Jimmy Fallon, with 1.2 million.

National TV advertising revenue over the past 12 months of the show came in at an estimated $58.8 million -- down 3.7% from the year-before period, according to EDO Ad EnGage.

“The Late Show” has been around for 33 years, debuting in 1993. It was originally hosted by David Letterman, who left the show in 2015 when Colbert took over.