01 — Connected TV explained
TV advertising built for the streaming era
Connected TV, or CTV, is television content delivered through an internet-connected television, streaming device or set-top box. For advertisers, it creates a way to place video advertising within professionally produced streaming content and apply more flexible audience, location and measurement options than traditional broadcast television alone.
CTV is about the screen, not just the app
A viewer might be watching an Australian broadcaster app such as 7plus, 9Now or 10, a subscription service with advertising, or a free ad-supported streaming channel. When that viewing happens on a connected television, advertising can be planned and delivered as CTV.
How it differs from traditional television
Campaigns can be activated with smaller and more flexible budgets. Audiences can be shaped using geography, context and eligible data signals. Delivery and frequency can be monitored during the campaign. Website activity and business outcomes can be analysed after ad exposure, subject to the measurement method used.
What CTV does not change
It is still television. Strong creative, trusted content and enough reach remain essential. Targeting and dashboards do not compensate for an unclear message or an audience that is too narrow.
Key takeaway: CTV brings the impact of television into a more flexible, data-enabled buying environment.
02 — The Australian viewing shift
Australian audiences have moved beyond the broadcast schedule
Australian viewing is now spread across broadcast television, broadcaster streaming services, subscription platforms and free ad-supported channels. That fragmentation makes television harder to buy as one simple channel, but it also creates new ways for growing businesses to reach viewers on the largest screen in the home.
Streaming is now mainstream
ACMA data reported for 2024 showed subscription streaming use among Australian adults at 69 per cent, compared with 29 per cent in 2017. Over the same period, weekly free-to-air viewing declined from 71 per cent to 46 per cent. The point is not that television has disappeared. It is that television viewing is increasingly delivered through connected services.
Advertising is following the audience
Ad-supported options are expanding across broadcaster video on demand, free streaming channels and selected global subscription services. This gives advertisers more opportunities to appear around premium television content while applying digital-style planning and optimisation.
Why this matters for an SME
Historically, television could feel too expensive, broad or difficult to measure. CTV can lower the practical barrier to entry through flexible budgets, geographic controls, faster campaign changes and reporting designed around business outcomes.
Key takeaway: Add high-attention reach where Australians are increasingly watching.
03 — Beyond search and social
Add television to the performance marketing mix
Search and social remain important because they capture intent and support conversion. But relying on the same platforms for every stage of growth can make it harder to find new customers. CTV adds a different kind of signal: sight, sound and motion on the largest screen in the home. It can introduce the brand, demonstrate a product or make an offer memorable before someone searches, visits the site or converts through another channel.
Build demand before the search
Businesses can adapt existing customer insights, product messages and offer strategies for television. The goal is not to copy a social video onto a TV screen. It is to translate what already works into a format designed for shared, lean-back viewing. CTV can support launches, selected cities, prospecting, eligible customer groups, seasonal promotions and evaluation of visits, leads or sales.
Key takeaway: CTV can sit between brand and performance, creating demand while giving marketers practical ways to evaluate what happened next.
04 — Smarter audience planning
Move beyond broad television demographics
CTV can help advertisers plan around the households, locations and viewing environments most relevant to the campaign. A practical audience strategy begins with the business objective, then balances three layers: location, audience and context, and eligible first-party activation. Accuracy matters more than inflated reach; data varies in source, freshness and match quality, and no audience should be presented as perfectly precise.
Three practical audience layers
Location can include states, cities, regions or eligible service areas. Audience and context can draw on demographic, interest, intent or content-based segments supplied by approved partners. First-party activation can use eligible CRM, website or commerce audiences matched in a privacy-conscious environment where integrations and consent permit. Wider inventory and sensible audience boundaries usually give optimisation more opportunity to find the right outcome.
Key takeaway: Good CTV targeting balances relevance, reach, privacy and enough scale for the campaign to learn.
06 — CTV creative
Make the message clear, memorable and easy to act on
CTV creative needs to earn attention in a shared living-room environment. The strongest ads use television-quality storytelling while making the product, brand and next step unmistakable. Show the brand and product clearly; use readable on-screen text and captions; design for sound-on viewing while ensuring the visual story makes sense at low volume; and keep URLs, QR codes or search prompts large and on screen long enough to use.
Lead with one clear idea
A viewer should quickly understand what the business offers and why it matters. Product footage, customer stories, photography and successful social concepts can provide a strong starting point, but they need to be reframed for television dimensions, pacing, sound and viewing distance. Useful variations change one meaningful element at a time, such as the opening hook, offer, proof point or call to action.
Key takeaway: Treat creative as a performance lever, but design it for television rather than a scrolling feed.
07 — Measure what happens next
Understand the contribution of CTV beyond impressions
CTV does not usually generate a click in the way a search or social ad does. People may see an ad, then visit directly, search later or convert on another device. Measurement therefore needs more than a platform dashboard or a single last-click report. A practical framework considers delivery, response, attribution, incrementality and business impact using campaign delivery data, web analytics, commerce outcomes and controlled testing.
Why incrementality matters
Attribution can assign credit to activity that may have happened anyway. A controlled test, such as comparing similar exposed and holdout markets, provides stronger evidence of causal lift when the campaign is large enough and the test is designed properly. Household and IP matching can be useful, but it is not person-level proof; reporting should explain assumptions rather than hide them.
Key takeaway: Measure television’s real contribution using transparent, complementary methods.
08 — A clearer way to buy CTV
Know what you are buying and how success is measured
A strong CTV partner should make the supply path, fees, audience data and measurement method understandable.
Advertisers should be able to see what was delivered, where it appeared and what evidence supports the reported outcome.
The AusperTV approach
AusperTV is being built to give Australian businesses a simpler route into premium streaming television, combining guided campaign setup, flexible audience options, clear platform selection, creative support and outcome-focused reporting.
Key takeaway: Transparency is a product feature. Advertisers should understand the inventory, data, fees and evidence behind every campaign.