Over 67% of Canadian adults are connected TV (CTV) users according to a new report from MiQ in partnership with market research consultancy Sapio.
And as audiences continue to grow, so does ad investment. Currently, 51% of Canadian advertisers include CTV in their marketing mix. The report did not quantify the investment the current percentage represents, but estimated that spending will reach $1 billion CAD by 2025.
Other advertiser insights include that 43% of marketers are looking to increase CTV spend in the coming year, 48% plan to maintain their spend and 11% say they will be decreasing their spend. Most advertisers (43%) are buying CTV using self-serve options, 30% are using managed services and 28% are hybrid buyers. This is the opposite to marketers in the US and UK where the majority (40% to 50%) use hybrid, 30% use self-serve and 26% use a managed service.
The main challenge for 30% of advertisers that use CTV is meeting performance goals. Globally, over half of CTV advertisers measure the success of their campaigns with one key metric, reach and frequency, towards the intended target audience.
This is an even more important measure for Canadian advertisers. Their top three measures of CTV success are: reach and frequency towards the intended target audience (45%); offline to online attribution (45%); and attention (45%).
The report also looks at the TV viewing habits of Canadians, 78% of whom subscribe to at least one streaming service. On the other hand, 39% can’t be reached by traditional cable or satellite TV since 28% report being cord cutters and 11% are cord-nevers.
Viewing habits change region to region. The Prairies have the most cord cutters (30%) and cord-nevers (14%). Hybrid TV viewers – those who watch both linear TV and streaming services – report 60% longer on average viewing times than those watching only linear TV. Along with Ontario, viewers in the Prairies spend 15 to 20 minutes more each day watching CTV compared to linear TV. AVOD is a popular option with 48% of Canadians considering this service and 13% saying they prefer it over ad-free streaming.
TV viewing is a multi-device experience. Many Canadians (40%) say they often or almost always use a second screen while watching TV. Canadians (44%) still interact and engage with an ad during TV programming, especially viewers in the Atlantic Provinces and Ontario with 13% saying they take an instant action on their second screen and search for the product online when they see an ad.
On average, Canadians have just over five internet-enabled devices in their homes. TV is still the top device for watching content although those in BC and the Prairies have similar or higher affinity for watching TV on a mobile device versus a laptop compared to the rest of Canada. Atlantic Canadians prefer viewing on a laptop almost as much as TV.
