On today's episode, we discuss what to make of YouTube ad impressions moving over to TV screens, our connected TV ad spending estimates, and how to make TV ads more actionable. We then talk about what's driving Amazon's ad business, whether NBCUniversal can get primetime TV ad rates for slots on Peacock, and what impact Nielsen's new Podcast Ad Effectiveness+ solution will have. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Eric Haggstrom.

YouTube viewing is shifting to connected TV (CTV) screens, a behavioral change that could help make YouTube a powerful alternative for TV advertisers moving dollars to digital video.

eMarketer principal analyst Nicole Perrin and forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Eric Haggstrom discuss Google's Q4 performance and what's driving it forward. They then talk about YouTube's shift to connected TVs, whether Americans are becoming less tolerant of digital ads, and what to make of the UK watchdog's investigation into Google replacing cookies.

Digital video subscription fees are rising amid a cord-cutting surge, and Netflix, Disney, and YouTube are chief among those reaping the benefits.

For the first time this year, we broke out CTV ad revenues for YouTube, Roku, and Hulu.

The medium screen: New data on ad impressions shows that more YouTube viewing is happening on TVs, suggesting the platform will soon become an increasingly popular place to reallocate TV ad dollars.

YouTube is the single biggest source of supply in US CTV advertising. The digital video platform’s outsize role in the US CTV space is particularly striking given that advertisers can’t access CTV inventory on YouTube on non-Google platforms (e.g., Roku).

In 2020, Netflix and YouTube users increased their time spent the most compared with users of other subscription OTT video services. Last year, Netflix users increased time spent on the platform by 11.2% YoY, while YouTube engagement grew 9.5%.

Digital video time spent: Includes all video content viewed on desktop/laptop computers, mobile devices, and connected TVs, such as video streamed through over-the-top services. Excludes video streamed through social networks.

Advertisers are increasing their upfront commitments, particularly for connected TV.

The sports hub also features a pitch for YouTube Select, a reboot of the premium ad platform formerly known as Google Preferred. The product steers advertisers toward a curated mix of CTV-friendly content organized into categories, such as sports, beauty and fashion, entertainment, music, gaming, and technology. Reddit.

A significant uptick in the number of connected TV (CTV) users in 2020 likely caused the increase, and that growth will continue for the next several years. In our recent report, “UK Digital Users 2021: After a Trying Year, Which of Our Digital User Forecasts Changed, Which Changes Will Stick, and Which Won’t?

What to look out for at the NewFronts: CTV and social video will shine at this week's digital upfront presentations, as both formats have grown rapidly over the past year.

Increased political ad spending contributed to a banner year for connected TV.

That’s in line with our estimates—this year, we predict that there will be 136.9 million Amazon Prime Video viewers in the US alone, making it the third-largest over-the-top (OTT) video service behind YouTube and Netflix. But of the top five OTT platforms that we measure, we estimate Amazon Prime Video users spend the least amount of time watching Prime Video.