Report: Programmatic CTV Spending Doubled in 2024

Spending on programmatic CTV advertising surged in 2024, according to a new report from the digital ad software company Basis Technologies, marking a more than 100 percent increase over 2022 levels.

Programmatic CTV accounted for 24 percent of campaigns’ and committees’ total digital ad spend last year, surpassing the share spent on desktop ads and eating into the share spent on mobile, the report found. By comparison, programmatic CTV accounted for 11 percent of digital ad spending in 2022 and just 6 percent in 2020.

Programmatic advertising CPMs – the cost for every 1,000 ad impressions – began ticking upward last July and reached its peak in October and November at about 40 percent above average, according to Basis’ report.

The rise in programmatic CTV may be due, at least in part, to the rapid rise in CTV opportunities.

“Availability of CTV ad opportunities is compelling political marketers to spend on these devices,” the report says. “There are more ways to buy it today than two years ago. In programmatic channels, marketers have more choices for publishers, vendors and tactics.”

CTV Comes Into its Own

CTV has evolved rapidly over the past decade from a niche advertising channel to an essential investment for political campaigns and causes. The channel’s rise comes as campaigns invest increasingly in video, eschewing formats like display ads, native content and audio spots.

Video accounted for 76 percent of digital ad spending in 2024, according to the Basis report – an increase over 2020 and 2022 levels. And while video has made up the largest share of digital ad spending since Basis began tracking it in 2018, the company says that there’s still room for it to grow.

“With CTV ad opportunities growing faster than ever, more availability through programmatic buying, and multiple targeting and measurement options, there may still be more room to expand video’s ad spend share,” the report says.

That tracks with what political ad buyers and consultants say is an increasing desire among voters for candidates and causes to tell deeply personal stories. Mike Hahn, the president of digital strategy and operations at Republican consulting firm Frontline Strategies, said that it’s not enough anymore for candidates to simply ply potential donors for generic asks for money.

“You can’t just hit voters with promises of donation matching or threats of upcoming deadlines,” Hahn told C&E. “People want to hear a candidate’s story: who they are, where  they’re from, why they’re running.”