European CTV use hits 86% as viewing grows among young people
In Europe, 86% of consumers are now watching connected TV (CTV) — a six percentage point increase from 2022.
That is according to the latest study from CTV advertising company ShowHeroes Group in collaboration with performance marketing agency Kinesso. Its survey covered six markets in Europe.
UK CTV viewing penetration was 91%, the second-highest among European countries surveyed behind Spain.
The other markets in the study were Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
In the UK, 39% report only watching CTV, compared with just 9% who report only watching linear TV. A majority (52%) say they watch both CTV and linear.
According to the study, CTV and linear TV use varies significantly by the type of content consumed. Linear TV is predictably used for news, sports and talk shows, whereas films, TV shows and “short videos like YouTube” are more commonly viewed on CTV.
The findings underscore the importance of live news and sport to linear TV, but also reveal the enduring but relatively minor popularity of talk shows and game shows on this channel.
Sports rights have become increasingly expensive in recent years, with sports and breaking news becoming the two most reliable verticals for delivering large audiences on linear TV. For brands, sports in particular offer a bankable, brand-safe environment for advertising.
Breaking the survey out by demographic, younger viewers were predictably more likely to embrace CTV. A quarter (25%) of 18-34s exclusively watch CTV and nearly a third (29%) of 35-49s say the same.
In contrast, just 8% of 18-34s and 14% of 35-49s say they only watch linear TV, whereas 40% of 50-64s and 37% of 65-plus say they do.
“CTV is a leading topic in digital advertising for a reason: it’s popular and extremely effective,” ShowHeroes Group CEO Ilhan Zengin argued.
Earlier this year, a report from Teads suggested a lack of understanding and perceived high costs are holding back investment in CTV advertising. Almost half of marketing decision-makers said they “do not understand the key advantages”, with 35% citing cost as “the main drawback”.
“CTV is still in a bit of no-man’s land when it comes to budgets and buying teams,” Matthew Bailey, senior principal analyst, advertising, at Omdia told The Media Leader at the time.
Still, CTV adspend in the UK is expected to almost double to £2.94bn by 2028 as more viewers make the switch from linear.