Study: Repurposed Traditional TV Ads for CTV Is a Missed Opportunity

Why It Matters

Brands are leaving significant performance gains on the table by clinging to legacy formats, and the shift toward scalable, interactive CTV ads could reshape media buying and ROI benchmarks across the advertising ecosystem.

Key Takeaways

• 49% of CTV ads remain traditional TV spots
• High‑impact formats raise brand recall 33%
• Purchase intent climbs 76% with innovative ads
• Infrastructure fragmentation blocks scalable creative
• Agencies favor universal 15‑second cuts

Pulse Analysis

Connected TV has become the dominant viewing mode, with ad‑supported streaming now accounting for 74.2 % of all TV consumption. Brands are pouring record budgets into CTV, and forecasts from WARC predict that streaming ad spend will eclipse linear television by 2030. This rapid shift creates a fertile ground for advertisers to experiment with formats that leverage the interactive capabilities of digital screens, yet the reality on the ground tells a different story. These numbers underscore why marketers are rethinking the role of linear‑style spots in a fully digital environment.

The TripleLift study reveals that nearly half of CTV campaigns still rely on 15‑ and 30‑second spots designed for linear TV, a creative approach that ignores the medium’s unique affordances. Brands that layer high‑impact units—pause ads, overlays, native streams—see brand recall climb 33 %, purchase intent surge 76 %, and consideration jump elevenfold versus industry benchmarks. Consumer sentiment backs this shift, with 67 % finding innovative ads more memorable and 77 % viewing pause ads as informative rather than intrusive. Such lifts translate into measurable revenue gains, prompting early adopters to allocate larger shares of their media budgets to these formats.

The primary obstacle to broader adoption is not creative talent but a fragmented infrastructure that lacks cross‑platform standards. Agencies default to universal 15‑second cuts because they can be deployed everywhere, sacrificing the performance lift that bespoke formats deliver. Industry collaboration—mirroring the standardization waves that enabled online video and native advertising—could unlock scalable, data‑driven CTV experiences. Regulators and platform owners are also beginning to publish APIs that could streamline the deployment of interactive units, further lowering barriers for agencies. As advertisers chase higher ROI, the next wave of streaming revenue will likely depend on a unified creative ecosystem that fully exploits the interactive potential of connected TV.