The television of today looks very different from the television of twenty years ago. Viewers move between traditional broadcasts, streaming services, free ad-supported television, live sports, on-demand entertainment and connected devices, often without thinking about the technology behind the experience.
For advertisers, this shift has created one of the most interesting developments in modern media: Connected TV, or CTV.
CTV brings the storytelling and visual impact of television into an internet-connected environment, where advertisers can benefit from many of the targeting, measurement and flexibility capabilities associated with digital advertising.
It is television advertising adapted to the way people watch television now, which is precisely what makes it such an important opportunity for modern brands.
What is CTV advertising?
Connected TV refers to television content delivered through an internet-connected television or device. This can include smart TVs, streaming devices, gaming consoles and other connected screens. When someone watches streaming content on their television and encounters an advertisement before or during that content, they may be experiencing CTV advertising.
The important difference is not simply that the content is delivered through the internet. CTV changes the advertising model surrounding the television screen. Traditional television buying has historically been built around channels, programs, schedules and broad audience demographics. CTV gives advertisers access to a more flexible media environment where campaigns can be planned around specific audiences, locations, interests, viewing behavior and other available signals.
In practical terms, this means the television screen is no longer only a place to broadcast one message to everyone watching at a particular time. It can become a highly targeted part of a broader digital advertising strategy.
That combination is what makes CTV so compelling. The screen remains premium, but the way advertisers reach people becomes considerably more sophisticated.
Television is not disappearing. It is changing.
There is a tendency to describe streaming as something that is replacing television, but the reality is more nuanced. People are still spending substantial amounts of time watching television content. They are simply accessing more of that content through streaming.
The advertising industry is following that behavior. According to the IAB's 2026 Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report, U.S. digital video advertising is expected to surpass $80 billion in 2026. The IAB's 2026 outlook also projects strong growth for CTV, with the category continuing to attract investment as viewing shifts toward digital and streaming environments.
Nielsen's research tells a similar story from the viewing side. Streaming continues to account for an increasingly significant share of television consumption, while the distinction between "television" and "digital video" becomes less meaningful to the person sitting in front of the screen.
The screen has stayed. The distribution has changed.
That is why CTV is better understood as the modernization of television advertising rather than the end of it.
Why does CTV matter to advertisers?
Traditional television has always been particularly strong at building awareness because it combines sight, sound and motion in an environment designed around viewing. CTV keeps that advantage while adding capabilities that advertisers have become accustomed to through digital media.
A brand can use video to tell its story on a large screen while using audience and campaign data to make its media buying more deliberate. Depending on the platform and inventory, advertisers can consider factors such as geography, demographics, interests, viewing behavior and contextual information when determining where their campaigns should appear.
This gives marketers a fundamentally different way to approach television.
Instead of beginning with a television program and asking which audience happens to be watching it, advertisers can begin with the audience they want to reach and determine where that audience can be found within the streaming ecosystem.
That shift is especially valuable for brands that have specific customer groups, are entering new markets or want to reach people who may not be consuming traditional television in the same way they once did.
The scale is already here
CTV is no longer a niche experiment reserved for technology companies or brands trying to be early to a trend. Advertising investment has grown alongside streaming consumption, and major advertisers are now treating connected television as a meaningful part of their media strategies.
The IAB's 2026 Digital Video Ad Spend Report projects U.S. digital video advertising to surpass $80 billion in 2026, with digital video expected to account for more than 60% of total TV and video advertising expenditure for the first time. The report also notes that CTV continues to benefit from the structural movement of sports rights toward streaming platforms, including major properties appearing across services such as Amazon, Peacock and Netflix.
This is important because sports and premium entertainment have traditionally been among television's most valuable environments for advertisers. As more of that viewing moves into streaming, the advertising opportunity moves with it.
The market is therefore not waiting to see whether CTV becomes relevant. It is already being incorporated into how advertisers plan for the future of television.
The biggest screen with digital-era targeting
One of CTV's strongest advantages is the combination of scale and specificity.
Digital advertising has spent years becoming increasingly sophisticated at identifying and reaching audiences. Television, meanwhile, has remained one of the strongest environments for video storytelling but historically offered less granular targeting.
CTV brings these two worlds closer together.
An advertiser can still place a professionally produced video on the largest screen in the home, but the campaign can be designed around a particular audience rather than relying entirely on broad television demographics.
This does not mean every CTV campaign is automatically precise or perfectly targeted. The industry is still improving how audience and content data are used. In fact, Nielsen's 2026 Gracenote research found that 86% of surveyed U.S. media planners would consider moving more linear TV budget into CTV if show-level targeting and reporting were available. The same research found that 80% of traders would consider moving from audience-targeted to contextually targeted CTV when actionable content signals were available.
That finding reveals where the next stage of CTV is heading. Audience targeting matters, but advertisers increasingly want to understand the environment in which their advertisements appear as well.
Context makes the message more meaningful
Imagine a travel company introducing a new destination. A beautiful video advertisement can create interest on its own, but the context surrounding that advertisement can make the message even more relevant.
Someone watching travel programming, destination content or lifestyle entertainment is already in an environment where a travel message can make sense. The advertisement does not need to fight against the content. It can complement it.
This is why contextual advertising is becoming increasingly important within CTV. Instead of relying only on information about the person watching, advertisers can also consider what that person is watching.
The result can be a more natural relationship between the content and the advertisement.
For premium advertisers, this matters. Relevance is not simply about improving targeting. It can also influence how an advertisement feels.
A well-placed advertisement can feel like part of the viewing environment rather than something that has interrupted it.
CTV can support the entire customer journey
CTV is often discussed primarily as an awareness channel, and there is a good reason for that. Video on a large screen is exceptionally well suited to introducing a brand and creating familiarity.
But modern CTV campaigns can go much further.
A person may see an advertisement on television, search for the company later on their phone, visit the website from a laptop, return through a retargeting campaign and eventually make a purchase. The conversion does not necessarily happen on the television itself, but the television exposure can become an important part of the journey.
That is why modern CTV is increasingly being evaluated alongside other digital channels rather than as an isolated television purchase.
Brands are testing whether connected television can contribute to awareness, consideration, website activity, new customer acquisition and ultimately revenue.
The results from individual campaigns naturally vary, and case studies from advertising platforms should always be considered within their specific methodologies and campaign conditions. Nevertheless, the examples are useful because they demonstrate how brands are approaching the channel in practice.
Brands are already putting CTV to work
Frito-Lay's Ruffles is one example of a major consumer brand testing what happens when more media investment is directed toward connected television. In a YouTube CTV experiment, Ruffles increased CTV allocation for part of its media and compared the results with its existing approach. According to Google's case study, the higher CTV allocation exceeded the brand's benchmarks across view rates, ad recall and sales lift while maintaining reach and efficiency.
L'Oréal USA also explored how established audience and creative strategies could translate into the CTV environment. Google reports that the company increased its YouTube investment by 102% year over year during one period as the company responded to changing audience behaviour around ad-supported streaming and CTV.
DocuSign provides another interesting example because the company initially questioned how valuable CTV could be when viewers could not simply click the advertisement and convert on the television screen. After running a CTV-focused experiment alongside its broader cross-device campaign, Google reported a 33% relative lift in ad recall and a 126% relative conversion lift for trial sign-ups.
These examples illustrate an important point about CTV: the value does not necessarily depend on someone taking action directly from the television. The television can play the role of the high-impact introduction, while the rest of the digital ecosystem helps complete the journey.
Smaller and growing brands can use it too
CTV is also becoming more accessible to brands that would not traditionally have considered television advertising.
The old image of television advertising often involves large production budgets, complicated media buying and substantial minimum commitments. Modern streaming platforms and advertising technology have created a more flexible environment.
Blu Dot provides a particularly interesting example. The furniture brand initially tested CTV advertising with a relatively small campaign before increasing its investment. According to Roku's 2026 case study, the initial campaign reached more than 211,000 households and generated 8,486 page-view conversions. The company subsequently scaled its investment, using a Shopify integration to connect CTV exposure with purchases across digital devices. Roku reports that the later campaign generated a 2,308% ROAS.
The significance of the example is not that every advertiser should expect the same return. Rather, it demonstrates how CTV can move beyond a purely brand-awareness exercise. A considered-purchase company can use streaming television as part of a full-funnel strategy, connecting awareness with measurable digital activity.
LolaVie, Jennifer Aniston's haircare brand, provides another recent example. For its first TV advertising campaign, the company used Roku to reach new audiences while connecting its television campaign with ecommerce and retail objectives. Roku's January 2026 case study reports a 40% lift in overall sales, a 53% increase in new customers year over year and a 43% boost in conversions during the campaign.
The campaign also illustrates how CTV can become more interactive. LolaVie used Roku's Action Ads to allow viewers to respond through their television remote and receive a text that could take them toward a purchase.
Television advertising, in other words, does not necessarily have to end when the commercial ends.
CTV is becoming increasingly full-funnel
Another recent example comes from Angi, the home services marketplace. In Q1 2026, Angi combined standard video advertising with native placements and interactive Action Ads as part of a CTV campaign designed to move viewers from awareness toward action.
According to Roku's September 2026 case study, the campaign generated 39% incremental reach over linear TV alone, while its conversion rate exceeded Angi's CTV average by 80%.
The strategy is representative of where CTV is heading. Rather than treating television as a single-purpose awareness channel, brands are increasingly connecting different formats and stages of the customer journey within the same streaming environment.
The large screen creates the initial impact. Audience and contextual signals help determine where the message appears. Interactive and digital components can give viewers a path toward action. Measurement can then help advertisers understand what happened after exposure.
That is a very different proposition from buying a television commercial and simply waiting for the audience to see it.
Why CTV is especially interesting for brands entering new markets
Entering a new market creates a fundamental marketing challenge: people cannot buy from a brand they have never heard of, and unfamiliarity can create friction even when the product itself is strong.
This is where CTV can play an important role.
A premium video campaign gives a new brand an opportunity to introduce itself in a high-attention environment, while audience targeting can help ensure that the campaign is not simply reaching people at random. Over time, repeated exposure can help establish recognition and familiarity before a consumer reaches the point where they are actively comparing products or services.
For companies expanding internationally, this combination can be particularly valuable. A brand may know exactly which audience it wants to reach, but finding that audience efficiently across a fragmented media environment can be difficult.
CTV offers another route into the market.
Instead of relying entirely on search, social feeds or display placements, a brand can put its story on the television screen while people are watching the content they have deliberately chosen to consume.
That gives the brand room to make an impression.
The future of television is connected
CTV does not mean that linear television suddenly becomes irrelevant. It means the definition of television is becoming broader.
Nielsen's research increasingly treats the television ecosystem as a combination of linear television, streaming, FAST and AVOD environments rather than completely separate worlds. Advertisers are learning to plan across those environments because audiences do the same thing naturally.
The IAB's 2026 research describes a digital video market that is becoming increasingly important to overall advertising strategy, while Nielsen's 2026 research into CTV data shows that advertisers are now asking for greater transparency around the content surrounding their CTV impressions.
That evolution is significant. The industry is no longer asking whether streaming television matters. The conversation has moved toward how advertisers can make CTV more measurable, more relevant and more effective.
Television gave advertising the power of sight, sound and storytelling. Digital advertising introduced greater flexibility, targeting and measurement. Connected TV brings many of those strengths together.
That is why CTV feels less like a new advertising format and more like the next version of television itself.
Bringing CTV to the Muslim market
For brands that want to reach Muslim audiences, the opportunity becomes even more interesting when premium television advertising is combined with audience relevance.
Muslim Ad Network makes that process easier by helping brands use CTV to reach Muslim audiences without having to navigate the complexity of building the entire process themselves. Instead of treating Muslim consumers as an afterthought within a broad campaign, brands can approach the audience intentionally and place their message within a modern, premium advertising environment.
The result is a more contextual way to use CTV: premium video on the biggest screen, delivered to an audience that matters to your brand.
CTV has already changed what television advertising can do. Muslim Ad Network makes it easier to bring that opportunity to the Muslim market.
If your brand is ready to explore CTV advertising for Muslim audiences, set up your campaign today or start a conversation with our team!