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OTT Advertising: How to Navigate Today’s Opportunities
Streaming is no longer the future of TV. It’s the present. According to Nielsen, streaming has now overtaken cable and broadcast as the number one way people consume TV.
Nielsen’s The Gauge August 2025 report shows that streaming accounted for 47.3% of overall TV viewing time in July 2025, outpacing cable (22.2%) and broadcast (18.4%). More households are choosing Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and other streaming services over traditional cable and broadcast options. That means over-the-top and connected TV advertising, or OTT/CTV, has gone from being experimental to essential. For those already investing, this shift confirms you are ahead of the curve and building your brand where people are watching. For those not yet active in OTT, the risk is falling behind while competitors secure attention and loyalty from the very customers you want to reach.
Where Do You Start?
The first step is choosing the right partner. OTT can be bought in several ways, and your choice determines what targeting, data, and platforms you can access. Demand-side platforms (DSPs) like Amazon DSP or The Trade Desk offer wide reach and advanced segmentation. Cable providers such as Spectrum or Comcast often use subscriber data to target households in their footprint. Specialized OTT vendors may provide access to select publishers, but not the full landscape.
The challenge is that not every partner offers transparency or access to premium streaming platforms. At MPW, we work directly with one of the most respected DSPs in the industry. That means your ads can run on the top streaming services where audiences spend the most time, including Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon, and Peacock. We make sure your campaigns are delivered where your target audience is actually watching.
- Cable providers often use first-party subscriber data for targeting
- DSPs allow for deeper audience and behavioral segmentation
- Not all vendors provide direct access to premium publishers
CPM Matters
Every impression on OTT has a cost, measured by cost per thousand impressions (CPM). National averages for CTV often range between $30 and $60 CPM. If you are buying on your own, those are the numbers you can expect to pay. This is where working with an agency like MPW becomes a real advantage. Because we buy media for many clients, we can combine spend across accounts and negotiate stronger rates. That pooled buying power helps stretch your budget further, so you get more reach without inflating costs.
For individual businesses, navigating rates and options can be confusing. Some cable providers may look appealing because of their household-level data, while DSPs may seem more expensive but provide broader targeting. The difference comes down to scale and negotiating leverage. Partnering with MPW means you benefit from both the rates we secure and the access we maintain to the platforms that matter most.
- National CPM averages range from $30 to $60
- Larger buying power leads to stronger negotiated rates
- Partnering with MPW ensures you do not overpay for impressions
Data Is Non-Negotiable
At the heart of any strong OTT campaign is data. Without it, you are essentially placing ads in the dark. The real value of streaming is the ability to target households based on behaviors, interests, and geography. That is how you ensure your message is reaching the right people in the right places. When evaluating partners, the quality of their data sources should be a top priority.
Some important questions to ask include:
- Who are their data providers, and how reliable are they?
- Do they offer a wide variety of audience and behavioral segments?
- Can you build custom audiences specific to your service area?
- Are there extra costs for advanced targeting layers?
At MPW, we do more than just plug in data segments. We constantly test and refine how audiences are built so that impressions are not wasted. If we see a targeting approach underperforming, we adjust. If a new data source can improve accuracy, we incorporate it. This ongoing attention ensures your campaigns are not just well-targeted on day one, but continue to get sharper over time.
Reporting and Optimization
Running an OTT campaign is not just about placing ads. It is about making sure every dollar is working as hard as possible. That is why reporting and optimization are important. Having access to the numbers matters, but what really moves the needle is having a partner who knows how to interpret them and adjust the strategy. At MPW, we monitor the performance of your campaigns on an ongoing basis and make changes to maximize results.
The reporting itself covers the essentials:
These metrics give us a detailed picture of what is happening, but the real value comes from what we do with that picture. Our team uses the data to continually refine targeting and optimize budgets so you get more from your investment. With MPW, you are getting a partner who is paying close attention, making changes, and pushing your campaigns to perform better month after month.
What’s Next for OTT?
The OTT industry isn’t slowing down. It’s rapidly evolving into a measurable, performance-driven advertising channel. One of the biggest advances is conversion tracking, which connects households exposed to your ad with visits to your website. This gives advertisers a clearer picture of how campaigns influence real customer behavior and helps tie ad spend more directly to business outcomes.
And this is just the beginning. As attribution technology advances, OTT will offer even deeper insights into the customer journey, from the moment someone sees your ad to the actions they take afterward. These improvements are opening the door to more robust measurement, smarter optimizations, and stronger accountability for results. At MPW, we stay ahead of these developments so your campaigns are ready to benefit from each new wave of innovation.
Looking ahead, several trends are set to shape the future:
- Advanced attribution: OTT will deliver full-funnel measurement similar to digital advertising
- AI-powered targeting: campaigns will use machine learning to continually optimize in real time
- Dynamic creative: ads will adjust automatically based on viewer behavior and context
The opportunity is here. OTT is no longer experimental. It is where audiences are, and it is delivering measurable results. For our clients already investing in OTT, you are ahead of the competition. For those who have yet to make the move, the risk is falling behind while others claim the attention of your future customers. Your customers are streaming. Let’s make sure they’re seeing your ads, not your competitors’. MPW will show you how!
Are you ready to put your brand where audiences are watching?
Streaming isn’t the future. It’s now. Let’s build an OTT strategy together that gets your brand in front of the right people, on the right platforms, at the right cost.
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