In analyzing the media landscape, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is reimagining the future of digital viewership. In this Q&A, the IAB's Eric John, vice president, media center, discussed continuous growth in video advertising and connected TV, why the old model of a million-dollar TV commercial playing once everywhere is gone, and how to make creative work better.

Connected TV (CTV) ad spend will reach $14.44 billion this year, up 59.9% from 2020.

In the US, Hulu is the fastest-growing subscription streamer on connected TV devices, with the number of households that watch it via those devices rising by 53% between January 2020 and June 2021.

YouTube viewers are pivoting to TV screens as their method of choice for watching content, a trend that experienced significant growth before and during the height of the pandemic. We estimate that 113.1 million US YouTube viewers, 52.8% of total viewers, watched the platform's content on connected TV (CTV) devices in 2020. Those numbers will increase to 130.8 million and 57.7% by 2022.

The UK digital ad market is thriving. It will grow 11.9% this year, reaching £25.84 billion ($35.54 billion). Video will be a big contributor to this growth, as will social network spending, which is being disrupted by the likes of TikTok.

Digital ad spending is exploding in Latin America. It will grow by 34.8% this year to $20.86 billion—a figure more than double the amount spent in 2020. Mobile will be the main growth driver, propelling the region’s digital ad market to new heights over the course of our forecast period.