The CTV Measurement Gap
Article summary:
Streaming now represents nearly half of total TV viewing, with audiences steadily shifting from linear to on-demand consumption and budgets following accordingly.
Despite strong audience presence, CTV measurement has not kept pace with viewing behaviour, creating a disconnect in how campaigns are evaluated.
Digital platforms like Google and Meta provide real-time, outcome-based reporting, while CTV largely remains focused on delivery metrics such as reach and impressions.
Industry reports highlight that the lack of a unified measurement currency and standardised outcome tracking is a primary concern for advertisers.
It is worth noting that streaming now accounts for nearly half of all TV viewing. Audiences have shifted, and rationally, budgets are following suit. This has not happened overnight; it has been a steady migration away from the linear schedule toward on-demand viewing and greater flexibility. Nielsen (2025) reports that streaming accounted for a record 47.3% of total TV viewing in the United States as of July. OzTAM (2025), in its Streamscape report, similarly confirms that digital video’s share of total viewing in Australia continues to grow quarter on quarter.
The audience is clearly there; the investment case is sound. Yet something does not quite add up when examining how CTV campaigns are evaluated, because the measurement conversation has not moved at the same pace as viewing behaviour.
When campaigns run through platforms such as Google or Meta, reporting is forensic. Advertisers know which creative drove a response, which audience converted, what cost per acquisition looked like, and what time of day performance peaked. Decisions can be made while campaigns are still live. The Interactive Advertising Bureau Australia (IAB Australia, 2025) makes this explicit in its Video Advertising State of the Nation report, noting that while nine in ten Australian agencies now have a unified cross-screen planning strategy, more than half identify the lack of a unified measurement currency as their primary concern.
CTV, by contrast, often returns reach and frequency, impressions served, and estimates of household delivery. While this information has value, it falls short of answering the question that matters most to anyone accountable for budget: did the advertising work? The Interactive Advertising Bureau (2025) frames this directly in its guide on closing the outcome gap for CTV, observing that the industry has historically relied on delivery-based metrics while outcome measurement remains fragmented and non-standardised across platforms. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (2025) further warns that without standardised outcome measurement, CTV platforms risk losing performance budgets to more accountable channels.
The gap between those two reporting experiences is, at this point, one of the more consequential structural issues in broadcast media. The audience has moved, the creative opportunity is strong, and the medium is fully capable of performing as a full-funnel channel. What it has not yet done consistently is prove it, in the language that performance budgets require.
For those working in broadcast planning or buying at the moment — does your current CTV reporting show you outcome, or does it stop at delivery?
References:
Interactive Advertising Bureau. (2025). The role of CAPI in closing the outcome gap for CTV. https://www.iab.com/guidelines/the-role-of-conversion-api-in-closing-the-outcome-gap-for-ctv/
Interactive Advertising Bureau Australia. (2025). Video advertising state of the nation 2025. https://iabaustralia.com.au/news/video-advertising-surges-amid-evolving-economic-measurement-and-ai-challenges/
Nielsen. (2025). Streaming cranks up the heat in July, accounts for nearly half of all TV viewing in Nielsen’s The Gauge. https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2025/streaming-cranks-up-the-heat-in-july-accounts-for-nearly-half-of-all-tv-viewing-in-nielsens-the-gauge/
OzTAM. (2025). Streamscape: Total video consumption in Australia. https://oztam.com.au/Streamscape.aspx