Platform-SpecificHulu
Connected TV
Television content and advertising delivered through internet-connected devices and streaming platforms.
Definition
Connected TV refers to television content delivered through internet-connected devices and streaming platforms, enabling advanced targeting, measurement, and interactive capabilities for advertisers. This environment combines the impact of traditional TV advertising with digital precision, reaching cord-cutters and streaming audiences through premium, full-screen video experiences.
Examples
Premium video ads during streaming TV shows
Targeted household campaigns across multiple apps
Interactive brand experiences during program breaks
Cross-platform campaigns combining CTV with digital video
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Connected TV, answered.
What is connected TV (CTV)?
Connected TV refers to television sets connected to the internet — via smart TVs or streaming devices — used to stream video content. CTV advertising places ads within streaming content on the big screen, combining the impact of television with digital targeting and measurement. As viewers shift from cable to streaming, CTV has become a major channel for reaching TV audiences addressably.
How does CTV advertising work?
Ads are served within ad-supported streaming apps and content on connected TVs, bought programmatically or directly. Unlike traditional TV's broad demographic buys, CTV can target audiences using data (demographics, interests, sometimes first-party/household data) and measure impressions, reach, frequency, completion, and increasingly outcomes — bringing digital addressability and accountability to full-screen, TV-style video advertising.
What's the difference between CTV and linear TV?
Linear TV is traditional scheduled broadcast/cable, bought by program and daypart with broad demographic targeting and limited measurement. CTV is streamed over the internet to connected TVs, with audience-based targeting, addressability, and digital measurement. CTV reaches cord-cutters and lighter linear viewers, offers granular targeting and accountability linear can't, and is bought more like digital — while keeping the premium big-screen viewing experience.
What's the difference between CTV and OTT?
OTT (over-the-top) describes the content delivery — streaming video over the internet, bypassing traditional cable/broadcast, on any device. CTV (connected TV) describes the device — an internet-connected television specifically. So all CTV viewing is OTT, but not all OTT is CTV: CTV is the TV-screen subset, while OTT also includes streaming on phones, tablets, and computers. The terms are related and often used together; CTV emphasizes the living-room big screen.
How is CTV advertising targeted and measured?
Like digital more than linear: audience targeting using data (demographic, interest, household, and sometimes first-party signals), addressable delivery to specific households/audiences, and measurement of impressions, reach/frequency, completion rates, and increasingly outcome attribution (e.g. tying exposure to site visits or conversions). Measurement standards are still maturing and vary by platform, but CTV brings far more targeting and accountability than linear TV's broad ratings-based model.
