CTV advertising in Australia: a complete guide to connected TV ads
Robert Ong
Managing Director
CTV advertising is advertising shown on a TV screen connected to the internet, inside apps such as YouTube, Netflix or 9Now. Connected TV ads look like TV ads, but they're bought on impressions through platforms and demand-side platforms. That means you can target households with data and cap how often each one sees your ad. With the right setup, you can also link exposure to sales.
We plan and buy connected TV advertising for Australian brands every week, so this guide is written from the perspective of a media buyer. I'll start with how CTV relates to OTT and BVOD, then cover where to advertise and how buying works. The second half deals with measurement and cost.
What is CTV advertising?
CTV stands for connected TV, that is any television that streams content over the internet. CTV advertising is any ad served to that screen through a streaming app. Most CTV ads are video, played before or during a show, much like a TV ad break. The big screen also carries newer formats such as pause ads and home screen tiles, and some ads can even be shopped with the remote.
Smart TVs and streaming devices explained
A TV gets "connected" in one of two ways. A smart TV, such as a Samsung or LG set, has apps built in. An older TV can be connected through a streaming device (an Apple TV, a Google TV stick, a Fetch box or a games console will all do it). Either way, the viewer is watching an app on the biggest screen in the house, often with other people in the room. Smart TV advertising also includes ads in the TV maker's own interface, such as the Samsung home screen.
The streaming TV taxonomy: where CTV fits
Think about total television in two buckets: free-to-air (the broadcast channels) and streaming TV (anything watched through an app). CTV is the screen. The services on that screen fall into four groups, and each sells advertising differently.
BVOD (broadcaster video on demand) is streaming owned by the free-to-air networks, such as 9Now. SVOD (subscription video on demand) is paid streaming such as Netflix or Disney+, and most of the big subscription services now have a cheaper ad-supported tier. AVOD (advertising-based video on demand) is free streaming funded by ads, such as YouTube or Tubi. FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) is free channels with a running schedule, like the ones on Samsung TV Plus.
What's the difference between CTV and OTT?
OTT (over-the-top) describes how content is delivered: streamed over the internet instead of through an antenna, cable or satellite. CTV describes the screen it's watched on. An OTT service watched on a phone is OTT but not CTV. The same service on a smart TV is both. Australian buyers now use "OTT" less, because most premium streaming advertising runs on the TV set.
What's the difference between CTV and BVOD?
BVOD describes who owns the content, while CTV describes the device. A 9Now stream on a smart TV is BVOD and CTV. A Netflix ad on a smart TV is CTV but not BVOD. Critically, BVOD is measured in OzTAM's VOZ currency alongside broadcast TV, while most other CTV is measured by each platform. Our BVOD advertising guide covers broadcaster streaming in detail.
Streaming vs free-to-air: share of viewing time
How much TV time has moved to streaming depends on who's counting. OzTAM's Streamscape data for April to June 2026 found free-to-air Total TV (broadcast plus BVOD) took 60.4% of viewing on TV sets, with digital video services taking 39.6%. Age changes that picture sharply. Among 18 to 39 year olds, digital video took 60.7% of TV-set viewing, while 25 to 54 year olds split almost evenly. YouTube alone had an 11.3% share of video viewing on TV sets.
Samsung Ads tells a different story. In Samsung Smart TV households, streaming made up 73% of viewing time in Q3 2026. It's not quite apples for apples. Samsung only sees its own connected sets and counts an app like 9Now as streaming, while OzTAM covers every TV set whether it's connected or not. OzTAM also puts BVOD inside Total TV. I've written more about why the two pictures differ.
Both datasets show the same trend, though. On the ground, we've seen many clients flip their planning to make streaming the primary TV channel, with free-to-air bought for incremental reach on top. That's why we plan television as free-to-air plus streaming, instead of treating CTV as a digital add-on.
Where you can run connected TV ads in Australia
This is where the main options stood in November 2026.
YouTube CTV advertising
YouTube is the biggest single streaming service on Australian TV sets. It says 13.7 million Australian adults watch it on a connected TV each month, 64% of the online adult population. YouTube CTV advertising can be bought through Google Ads or Display & Video 360, with formats built for the TV screen such as non-skippable ads and pause ads.
Netflix advertising in Australia
Netflix launched its ad-supported tier in Australia in November 2022, and it now reaches around four million active ad-supported viewers a month here. Since Q4 2025, Australian advertisers have been able to buy Netflix programmatically through Amazon DSP, and Netflix also sells direct through its local team. People don't love ads, but plenty will put up with them for a cheaper plan. You can learn more about Netflix advertising separately.
Amazon Prime Video advertising in Australia
Prime Video started running ads in Australia in 2024. Amazon says it has an average monthly ad-supported reach of more than five million Australians, based on its internal data. Amazon Prime Video ads are bought through Amazon DSP, which can also reach Netflix as well as Disney+ and Roku inventory. Amazon is adding interactive ads that let viewers put products in their cart with the remote.
Disney+ and other subscription services with ad tiers
Disney+ launched its Standard with Ads plan in Australia on 21 April 2026 at $9.99 a month, and Disney's local team sells it alongside ESPN. Other subscription services sell advertising through broadcaster partners. Nine sells Stan Sport and HBO Max together with 9Now. Paramount sells Paramount+ with its 10 app. DAZN Media+ (formerly Foxtel Media) sells Kayo Sports and Binge.
FAST channels advertising
FAST channels are free, ad-funded linear channels inside streaming apps or built into the TV. Samsung TV Plus now carries more than 200 channels in Australia and is the most-used streaming app on Samsung TVs, according to Samsung. Note that's Samsung's own figure, as there's no independent tracking of FAST viewing here yet. LG Channels and Paramount's Pluto TV also sell FAST inventory, and News Corp sells Tubi, a free ad-supported film service. FAST is often cheaper than premium subscription inventory, but the content is more mixed.
Samsung also sells ads on the TV home screen, which viewers see before they open any app. Our work with Tangerine is one example of it working: Samsung home screen ads delivered a 5.65 return on ad spend during a Black Friday campaign.
Broadcaster BVOD on the big screen
Most BVOD viewing now happens on connected TVs, so BVOD belongs in any CTV plan. It's bought direct with each network or programmatically, including through OzTAM's VOZ Streaming service. The BVOD advertising guide covers it in full.
How CTV ads are bought
Connected TV ads are priced on CPM, the cost per thousand impressions. There are two main ways to buy them.
Programmatic CTV through DSPs and SSPs
Programmatic CTV means buying through a demand-side platform (DSP), the software advertisers use to bid on ad space. The publisher runs a supply-side platform (SSP), which offers its inventory to buyers. When a viewer reaches an ad break the app asks for an ad. The SSP passes that opportunity to DSPs, and the winning ad is stitched into the stream in a fraction of a second. Most premium CTV is sold through private marketplaces or programmatic guaranteed deals, not the open exchange. That lets you choose specific publishers and apps.
The DSP matters, because each one reaches different inventory and carries different data. Amazon DSP brings Prime Video and Netflix with Amazon's shopping signals. The Trade Desk and Google's DV360 reach a wide range of CTV apps. If you buy across several DSPs, each one only caps frequency within its own buys.
Direct and platform buying
Some CTV is easiest to buy on the platform itself. YouTube runs through Google Ads or DV360. Netflix and Disney+ both have local sales teams for direct deals and sponsorships, while Samsung Ads sells its home screen and Samsung TV Plus directly. Direct deals usually cost more, but they open up sponsorships and custom formats.
How do you target CTV ads?
Targeting is what separates connected TV advertising from broadcast. On a broadcast spot everyone watching sees the same ad. On CTV you choose which households see it.
Household and interest targeting
Most CTV targeting works at household level, because a TV is a shared screen. Platforms build audiences from account data such as age or postcode. They also use viewing history and the IP address the TV connects from. TV makers like Samsung and LG can use automatic content recognition (ACR), which identifies what's playing on the screen with the viewer's consent. That lets you reach households that watch a lot of sport, for example, or ones that rarely watch free-to-air.
Contextual and content targeting
Contextual targeting places your ad around a genre, show or live event instead of a defined audience. It suits brands with a natural fit to the content, and it gives you more control over brand safety. That's one reason live sport and big events on CTV carry a premium.
Retail and first-party data
You can match your own customer data to a platform's audience inside a data clean room, so neither side shares raw records. That lets you find new households that look like your customers, or leave out ones that already are. Retail data is the other big lever. Netflix inventory bought through Amazon DSP can be targeted with Amazon audiences built from shopping signals.
Frequency capping and ad loads on connected TV
A frequency cap limits how often one household sees your ad in a set period. Every CTV platform supports one, which is a real advantage over broadcast, where heavy viewers see the same spot far too often. The catch is that caps only work inside each platform or DSP. Buy three platforms separately and one household can still get too many ads, so a CTV plan needs someone watching combined frequency.
Ad loads on subscription services are low. When Netflix and Binge launched their ad tiers, buyers reported around four minutes of ads per hour, against about 13 for linear TV. Lighter breaks plus frequency capping are a big reason connected TV ads tend to cut through better than broadcast spots. That's based on what we see on our own campaigns, not an industry-wide measurement.
How are CTV ads measured?
There's no single currency for connected TV in Australia. BVOD is measured by OzTAM's VOZ, while most other CTV is reported by each platform or DSP, so comparing them takes care.
Reach and completion
Platforms report impressions and completion rate alongside reach and frequency. Completion rates are usually high (typically 90-95%), since most CTV ads can't be skipped. Reach needs more care, because each platform counts its own audience, and simply adding them up overstates how many people you reached.
Brand lift and sales measurement
Not every campaign needs sales measurement. Some only need the right reach and frequency against the right audience. Where the goal is sales or leads, you need to link ad exposure to outcomes, either through brand lift studies or attribution that matches exposed households to conversions. Platform-reported conversions are a starting point, but each platform counts its own.
Measuring CTV with AdMatch™
AdMatch™ is our own streaming TV and audio measurement product. It matches streaming ad exposures to your online sales or leads at household level and removes double-counting across platforms. A daily dashboard reports cost per sale by publisher, time of day or creative, so we can move budget while a campaign is live. It only works on campaigns AdUnion plans and buys, and it's a paid product, charged as a small percentage of media or a fixed fee depending on how big the campaign is.
How much do CTV ads cost?
CTV ads are priced on CPM. The total is the CPM multiplied by the thousands of impressions you buy, so 400,000 impressions at a $50 CPM costs $20,000. Most plans start from a reach goal, and the budget follows.
CTV CPM ranges in Australia
Platforms rarely publish prices, and public figures date quickly. When Netflix launched its ad tier, buyers reported average CPMs of around $65, against roughly $30 to $55 for broadcaster BVOD. Prices have come down since as more supply arrived, with Netflix CPMs closer to $60 about 18 months after launch. FAST and open-exchange CTV usually cost less than premium subscription inventory.
What affects connected TV advertising cost
Four things move the price most. Each layer of targeting data narrows the pool and raises the CPM. Premium content and live sport cost more than FAST channels or library content. Demand peaks before Christmas and the end of the financial year. And direct deals with sponsorship value cost more per impression than programmatic run-of-platform.
A cheap CPM on low-quality inventory can end up costing more per sale than a premium one. So we judge CTV on the outcome as well as the rate.
Creative specs and best practice for CTV ads
Most platforms take 15 and 30-second video in 16:9 at 1920x1080, as an MP4 file, though specs vary. Amazon's streaming TV ad specs for Prime Video, for example, ask for a minimum bitrate of 15 Mbps. Check each platform's current sheet before production. Longer lengths and premium formats vary by platform.
On the creative itself, build for a big screen in a living room. Branding should be clear and type easy to read from the couch. Show the brand early, because sound is usually on but attention comes and goes. If you're using a shoppable or QR format, make the action simple to complete without getting up.
Can small brands advertise on CTV?
Yes. Programmatic buying and self-serve platforms mean you don't need a national TV budget to run connected TV ads. YouTube can start with modest spend, and DSPs let you buy across many apps at once. The risk is spreading a small budget across too many platforms, which leaves each one too thin to learn from.
When CTV is the right choice, and when it isn't
CTV advertising suits brands that want TV-quality impact with digital-style control. It's a strong fit when your audience watches more streaming than broadcast, which is increasingly true under 40. It also earns its place when you need frequency control, or when you want TV exposure tied to sales. And it complements free-to-air by reaching households that rarely watch it.
It's a weaker fit in a few cases. For maximum reach in a single night, such as a big launch, broadcast still gets there faster. A very small budget split across many platforms won't build enough frequency anywhere. And if you need people to act straight away online, CTV usually works best alongside search and social, not instead of them.
How AdUnion approaches CTV advertising
AdUnion is an independent, integrated, full-funnel media agency. In our TV advertising work, connected TV is planned as part of television.
Every engagement starts with immersion: more than 60 questions put to several of your stakeholders about your customers and sales cycle, as well as how you measure success. From there we decide which platforms earn a place. We buy YouTube through Google Ads, and Netflix with Prime Video through Amazon DSP. We're paid through a disclosed margin, so you can see what the media costs, and senior people stay on your business day to day. Once a campaign is live we optimise it in-flight with AdMatch™, moving budget towards the platforms and creative that are converting.
CTV advertising FAQs
What does CTV stand for?
CTV stands for connected TV, that is any television that streams content over the internet, either through built-in smart TV apps or a device such as an Apple TV or games console. CTV advertising is any ad served to that screen, inside apps such as YouTube or 9Now, or on the TV's own home screen. In Australia, CTV ads are usually bought on a cost per thousand impressions.
What's a typical CTV CPM in Australia?
Prices are negotiated and change quickly. When Netflix launched its ad tier, Australian buyers reported average CPMs of around $65, against roughly $30 to $55 for broadcaster BVOD, and Netflix prices have fallen since. FAST channels and open-exchange inventory usually cost less. Targeting and live sport push CPMs up. For me the fairest test of a CTV CPM is the cost per result it delivers.
Is CTV the same as OTT?
Not quite. OTT (over-the-top) describes how content is delivered: streamed over the internet instead of broadcast. CTV describes the screen: an internet-connected television. An OTT service watched on a phone isn't CTV, but the same service on a smart TV is both. Most Australian buyers now plan streaming video on the TV set as CTV, and use the term OTT less.
Is CTV advertising the same as BVOD advertising?
No. BVOD (broadcaster video on demand) is streaming owned by the free-to-air networks, such as 7plus or 9Now, and it's measured in OzTAM's VOZ currency. CTV covers every app on a connected TV, including Netflix or YouTube. Most BVOD is now watched on connected TVs, so BVOD is usually one part of a wider CTV plan.
What targeting options do connected TV ads offer?
Connected TV ads are usually targeted at household level. You can use the platform's account data and location, or viewing behaviour picked up by the TV itself. Content and genre targeting is available too. You can also match your own customer data in a clean room, or use retail data such as Amazon audiences on Netflix and Prime Video. Frequency caps control how often each household sees the ad.
How do you measure connected TV ads?
Platforms report impressions and completion rates. They also report reach and frequency, but only within their own inventory, so combined reach needs de-duplication. For sales outcomes, attribution matches exposed households to purchases or leads. We do this with AdMatch™, which reports cost per sale by publisher and creative every day on campaigns we plan and buy.
Is CTV advertising worth it for a small business?
It can be, as long as the plan fits the budget. Programmatic and self-serve buying mean a business can run connected TV ads without a national TV budget. The common mistake is spreading a small budget over too many platforms.
Talk to a senior planner
If you're weighing up connected TV advertising, or working out where it fits with free-to-air and BVOD, get in touch. A senior planner will come back to you within one business day.
