Two million people have unsubscribed from cable in the last six months. The cord cutting trend is even higher among young people. Only about half of millennials have a cable subscription, while 88% use at least one alternative service. While this shift away from cable is not great news for the grandchildren of baby boomers in Idaho who are going to have to teach their beloved Nana and Papa how “streaming” works, it’s an interesting opportunity for brands looking to abandon a sinking ship and reinvest budget in more impactful channels.

Connected TV (CTV) viewership is projected to reach 57.2% of the population by the end of this year. Native apps on Smart TVs and devices like Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire Stick, Xbox and more are making it easy for pretty much every household to make the transition from traditional cable service. Because of this, “Connected TV inventory is growing like weeds.” Multiple reports show share of total ad impressions for CTV jumping up to 15-44% over the course of 2018. And as the supply of inventory grows, the price to advertise against it is predicted to drop—making it an even more attractive promotional medium for brands.

We’re All In

At Giant Media, we’ve been helping leading brands take advantage of the expanded and optimized reach offered through this high-growth channel. Our Connected TV solution blends multi-device data to generate a holistic profile of a brand’s target audience. We then target those qualified viewers across a variety of CTV devices.  It’s 1:1 targeting in a 100% viewable and non-skippable environment that has grown over 50% in viewership since 2017. It’s an incredibly exciting new playground for advertisers… and we haven’t even talked about YouTube yet.

While in the past YouTube use has been associated with mobile phones or web browsers, thanks to CTV nearly everyone can now access the platform on their largest screen–the fireplace of the late 20th century, the technology that meals were named after and rooms were designed around… The television.

What this means is that ads served against YouTube content are now being consumed via a large format TV and digested similarly to how a traditional TV ad was in recent memory. Well, similarly, but way better. Traditional TV ads were scattershot over different networks and time slots. Now, thanks to CTV and YouTube targeting technology like Giant Media’s VuePlanner®, your ad can run against optimal, relevant, brand-suitable content for an ideal contextual advertising experience.

We’ve mentioned for example the Women’s World Cup, which is happening right now. (Go USA!). A substantial portion of people under 40 are streaming these games on a 72-inch TV…without a cable subscription. Instead they are using their Connected TV to stream YouTube live coverage of the competition. And, because it’s YouTube–where 5 billion videos are watched each day–when the game is over those viewers are moving on to older game clips, highlights, and Alex Morgan and Kelley O’Hara appearing on The Bachelor—all while your relevant content follows along with them on the big screen thanks to VuePlanner®’s proprietary content targeting.

It’s clear, Connected TV is the future of entertainment consumption. Every household will have one and thus every household will have access to YouTube videos on the largest screen in their house…and therefore EVERY screen in the house. Giant Media will have engaged eyeballs on your ads via phones, tablets, and now – TVs.

To learn how your brand can reach relevant audiences through Connected TV, get in touch today.