Connected TV

The agency for Connected TV in the Central Coast

Television advertising has historically been one of the most powerful ways for brands to reach new audiences. With every new invention in TV, however, audiences become more and more fragmented—from 3 channels to hundreds with cable, and now, streaming television networks dominating US households.

U.S. households were streaming nearly 5 hours of content per day in 2025, across an average of 6.9 streaming services. (Comscore)

TV ads are still effective. However, the distribution model has changed. This is where streaming tv advertising comes in. And the ability to advertising on these streaming services is what is known in the digital advertising community as Connected TV.

What is Connected TV?

Connected TV is the advertising industry term for advertising on streaming networks and internet-connected devices. Through programmatic ad buying technology, agencies such as Screechy Cat Media can buy video ad space on these streaming networks, the same we would a banner or search ad.

Connected TV ads are bought the same way we buy programmatic display ads—in Screechy Cat Media’s case, from the same Demand Side Platform (DSP). This enables us to utilize the same first and third-party targeting capabilities on Connected TV as we do with banner or audio ads.

Streaming TV advertising can be geotargeted and geofenced (though audiences may be very limited for the latter). This targeting ability, combined with an audience overlay, can create a powerful niche streaming campaign. They can also include QR codes to encourage direct website traffic from these ads.

Where can connected tv ads run?

This form of high-impact digital advertising is commonly associated with ad-supported streaming services. Today, nearly all streaming TV services have an ad-supported option, meaning your advertising has the opportunity to appear on such services as Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount Plus, and Tubi.

Connected TV advertising also includes services that run on internet-connected devices. The free, ad-supported channels that come included with Roku and Samsung television sets, for example, are both inventory that can be acquired programmatically.