The latest edition of Propeller Presents, which took place on 27th March 2025 at GroupM’s UK headquarters, saw Propeller gather industry leaders to discuss the ongoing developments in Connected TV (CTV). "Will the Revolution Be Televised?" explored how CTV is reshaping the media landscape and why advertisers are increasingly seeing it as the future of content consumption.
With CTV ad spend in the UK forecast to exceed £2 billion this year, the discussion couldn’t have been timelier. Our expert panel, chaired by our very own Group Content Director Branwell Johnson, featured:
- Ridhi Jogia, Director at EssenceMediacom
- Kate Waters, Director of Client Strategy & Commercial Marketing at ITV
- Carl Huber-D’Cruze, Sales Director EMEA at Disney
- Bobi Carley, Director of Industry Relations at ISBA
Here are some of the key insights and takeaways from the conversation:
CTV’s Growth Trajectory: A Market on the Rise
Drawing from industry forecasts, the panel highlighted the rapid ascent of CTV advertising revenues. GroupM’s data suggests global streaming ad revenues will grow by 19.3% year-on-year, with streaming accounting for over a third of total TV revenue within five years. ITV’s Kate Waters noted that, despite this surge, broadcast television still dominates, representing 72.6% of global TV ad revenues.
The message? CTV is accelerating, but linear is far from obsolete.
Linear vs. Streaming: A False Narrative?
There’s a perception that linear TV and streaming are locked in a battle for survival—but the reality is far more nuanced.
As Kate explained, broadcast and streaming are complementary, not competitive. ITV's approach combines both, ensuring advertisers can leverage premium content across formats. Disney’s Carl Huber-D’Cruze echoed this sentiment, stating “It's all about premium content and variety… People consume media in different ways.”
The Advertiser’s Challenge: Measurement and Attribution
Advertisers may recognise CTV’s potential, but they require more robust measurement to validate its effectiveness.
Bobi Carley of ISBA described the current landscape as "bloody complicated". Marketers struggle with fragmented teams, inconsistent trading models and siloed data. While platforms like ITV’s Lantern and Disney’s integration with BARB are making strides toward better reporting, there’s still fragmentation across different broadcasters and streaming services. The industry needs cross-platform solutions that enable advertisers to clearly see the incremental impact of their campaigns. A unified approach would simplify media buying, reduce inefficiencies and ultimately drive more confidence in CTV investment.
Maintaining a Healthy Ecosystem: Viewer Experience & Data Privacy
Beyond advertisers, maintaining a thriving CTV ecosystem means keeping viewers engaged. Ad load and placement are critical—ITV ensures content is written with ad breaks in mind, while Disney limits ad frequency to prevent overexposure.
Meanwhile, data privacy remains central. Broadcasters are prioritising compliance, with first-party data handling and clean-room technology ensuring responsible data usage.
Collaboration & Collective Action: The Key to CTV’s Success
One of the central themes that emerged from the panel was the undeniable need for industry-wide collaboration. As CTV continues to mature, its success hinges on collective efforts to refine trading models, establish unified measurement standards and uphold transparency in data usage.
Looking Ahead: Collective Action for CTV’s Future
CTV is poised for further evolution, driven by addressable advertising, retail media integration and new advertiser segments. As Kate highlighted, growth will increasingly come from digital-native brands seeking to scale. Ensuring continued success will require industry-wide collaboration—working together to refine measurement, optimise trading models and enhance transparency.
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