The FreeWheel Video Marketplace Report (VMR) – based on aggregated data collected from FreeWheel, the technology platform for the premium video advertising industry – highlights the changing dynamics of how enterprise-class content owners and distributors are monetising premium digital video content. The dataset included in this report is one of the largest available on the usage and monetisation of professional, rights-managed, ad-supported video content across the two regions.

This edition of the VMR analyses video advertising trends for the second half of 2024 (H2 2024) in selected European countries and the US building on the insights unveiled in the previous VMR in the same regions.

In the second half of 2024, Europe and the US sustained strong year-over-year (YOY) growth in overall ad viewership, +24 per cent and +10 per cent, respectively, as audiences continue to embrace streaming platforms. In the US, ad views were fairly distributed across live (57 per cent) and VoD (43 per cent), while Europe saw a higher proportion of ad views on ad-supported VoD content (76 per cent). However, the share of live ad views is growing in European countries thanks to the launch of new streaming services and FAST channels, and viewers increasingly choosing CTV devices to watch live streaming.

As such, in Europe, the large CTV screen has grown to capture the majority (66 per cent) of total ad views, with CTV devices commanding a large portion (77 per cent) of ad views for live programming. In the US, CTV continues its ascent, now representing 85 per cent of total ad views, an increase from the same period in 2023.

Across regions, the popularity of the large screen and the dynamic ad delivery offered by streaming have led to an increase in the use of new, innovative ad formats – such as QR codes, clickable ads, and trivia ads – as well as the adoption of contextual targeting. The report highlights interactivity as one of the key growth areas for the success of ad-supported streaming across Europe and the US.

In this context, user interactions and preferences provide valuable insight for effective ad strategies. As a result, ad views delivered through audience targeting – both behavioural and demographic – continued to increase in the US (+39 per cent) and Europe (+12 per cent) in H2 2024.

Both regions recorded strong year-on-year growth in programmatic ad views, +40 per cent in Europe and +37 per cent in the US. Regional variations are highlighted, with ads viewed as a result of programmatic transactions on live programming representing 16 per cent in Europe compared to 30 per cent in the US. Meanwhile, CTV was responsible for 32 per cent of programmatic ad views in Europe compared to 88 per cent in the US. There’s potential for live ad viewership to grow in Europe as publisher investments in programmatic should facilitate access to live inventory to a broader pool of buyers.

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Categories: Advertising, Articles, Connected TV, Consumer Behaviour, Research

Tags: advertising, CTV, FreeWheel