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New Report Examines Substantial Growth in Over-The-Top (OTT) Ad Spending and the Rising Rate of Programmatic Deals

Executive interviews reveal Auto, Legal and Healthcare services as top verticals buying OTT advertising

CHANTILLY, Va. (Sept 29, 2022) – A new report from BIA Advisory Services examines the increasing value of Over-the-Top (OTT) advertising and the current state of direct and programmatic buys. Sponsored by Madhive, the free report, The Local Programmatic Marketplace – OTT and Digital Reach Extension Channels, explores local OTT advertising trends and programmatic buying that provides access to a network of OTT ad inventory from a variety of publishers. The paper includes findings from executive interviews performed for the preparation of the paper. Participants included local TV group executives, agencies, technology solution providers, along with OTT platforms and aggregators.

In BIA’s current edition of its U.S. Local Advertising Forecast issued in June 2022, the fastest-growing media segment is OTT with an annual growth rate of +57.4 percent in 2022. OTT spending will exceed $2.0 billion this year, drawing strength from multiple business verticals and political.

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“OTT is the fastest growing channel for local media in 2022 and looking ahead to next year,” said Rick Ducey, Managing Director at BIA Advisory Services and the report’s author. “It is progressively serving as a digital reach extension to linear TV. Until recently, however, local TV and OTT have operated in silos, each with its own culture, workflow, and different levels of automation. Our research shows this is changing as marketplace trading moves to a much faster pace of innovation than in the past.”

As cited in the report, there were more than two million cord cutters in the first quarter of 2022.[1] This indicates that while local TV’s reach is still huge, it is declining as audiences shift to OTT especially among younger demos. In response, publishers are developing more ways to aggregate audiences across more types of content on local TV and OTT distribution platforms. Broadcasters want to bring both linear and digital premium video ad inventory to cross-platform buyers through programmatic trading.

As explained by Ducey, “Programmatic trading is fast becoming the new norm because it empowers data-driven automated platforms to manage real-time and forward reserve bidding that matches publisher inventory with ad buyer targeted consumer segments at sufficient scale and at mutually agreeable price points.”

Programmatic platforms extend control over premium inventory value-based pricing that serves both buyer and seller goals. Programmatic buys claim to help marketers identify and activate targeted groups at-scale across many publishers, provide critical fraud protection, as well as deliver campaign optimization, analytics, and key performance metrics. The report offers a full explanation of both direct and programmatic trading and the impact on buyers and sellers.

In terms of verticals that advertise on OTT, BIA’s U.S. Local Ad Forecast aligns with the interview findings shared by local TV group top digital executives. The automobile industry, especially Tier 1-Automotive Manufacturers and Tier 2- Local Automobile Dealers Associations, are the biggest investors in programmatic buys. As they explained during the interviews, most of these dollars are coming from Covid held opportunities. Next, Healthcare Services and Legal Services are also on the rise in programmatic advertisements. The report offers dollar spend estimates for these verticals and others on OTT.

A full list of topics covered in the report include:

  • Market shifts to digital ad platforms
  • Status of local programmatic
  • Views from the field: Executive interviews
  • Top business verticals spending in OTT
  • BIA’s local ad forecast 2022-2026
  • Buyer and seller recommendations

“There is agreement in the industry that local OTT is increasingly becoming the go-to platform, especially for premium video streaming options,” said Ducey. “This report offers both a perspective on the opportunities around OTT and programmatic buying and delivers important recommendations for the next steps.”

Report Download and Podcast

Click to download the report, The Local Programmatic Marketplace – OTT and Digital Reach Extension Channels. Plus, Madhive’s Head of Client Success, Joe Marino, joins a recent podcast to discuss Simplifying Programmatic Advertising. Click to listen now.

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[1] TV Cord-Cutting Hits Record as Coronavirus Shuts Businesses, Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2022. https://www.wsj.com/articles/businesses-join-tv-cord-cutting-frenzy-amid-coronavirus-11589036400?mod=article_inline

BIA Sponsored Research

BIA Sponsored Research is commissioned by companies that wish to spotlight timely issues, trends and topics that have a bearing on the local media and marketing industry. BIA maintains full editorial control and applies its longstanding standards of editorial practice and objective market analysis. Companies interested in contracting BIA to cover a particular topic or profile sectors of local media innovation should email info@bia.com for more information.

About Madhive

Madhive is the leading technology company engineered for modern TV advertising.  Through its self-service platform, advertisers can seamlessly customize and automate the buying process into one operating system. This allows advertisers to plan, target, activate, and measure their campaigns with greater simplicity, accountability, reach, and control. Powered by an industry-leading bidder and device graph that processes 260 billion available ad opportunities per day, Madhive delivers precise, brand-safe audience connections efficiently at scale. The company is trusted by over 80% of local content owners, creators, and distributors, including FOX, Scripps and TEGNA’s Premion, as well as national agencies and brands, powering more than half a billion dollars in media across 12,000+ daily campaigns.  To learn more, visit madhive.com.

About BIA Advisory Services

BIA Advisory Services is the leading authority for data-centered insights, analysis, strategic consulting, and valuation services for the local media and advertising industry. Since 1983, BIA has been a valuable resource for traditional and digital media companies, brands and agencies, the financial and legal community serving media and telecom, as well as the FCC and other government agencies. Today, we offer comprehensive local market advertising intelligence that provides grounded, reliable advertising estimates across media channels and business verticals. We also deliver comprehensive data on the broadcasting and publishing industries. Our leading solutions include BIA ADVantageTM and MEDIA Access Pro™. Our goal is to provide the best service to help our clients discover their path to the best opportunities. Learn more about our offerings, podcast, newsletter and more at http://www.bia.com.

Media Contacts:
MacKenzie Lovings
(703) 802-2991
mlovings@bia.com

Robert Udowitz
(703) 621-8060
rudowitz@bia.com

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