A long-coming expansion of consumer media choice is now a reality in Canada, challenging the existing digital establishment. More ad-supported video on connected TVs (CTVs), audiences shifting to hipper social networks, streamlined streaming, and the growth of retail media will affect the media mix in 2023.

Connected TV Props Up the TV Ad Market

CTV’s time has come in Canada. Its audience has been growing for years, and the opportunity for ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) has finally arrived at scale. Joining AVOD leader YouTube is Netflix, which launched ads in November 2022. The subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) walled gardens are coming down, meaning ads targeting these video viewers are now available and can be more aligned with targeting in linear TV.

CTV advertising is hot, boosting a stagnated linear TV market. This is good news for media buyers previously shut out from a growing base of cord-cutters. Our forecasts show:

• CTV ad spend will reach the C$1 billion ($806.7 million) milestone in 2023, and it’ll make up a quarter of total TV ad spending.
• There will be 4.1 million cord-cutter households in Canada next year, more than a quarter (26.5%) of total residences.