New Wurl Report Finds CTV Engagement is Growing, Meeting Peak-Pandemic Highs

Wurl, a leader in the CTV industry, published The CTV Trends Report 2024 – a new data-driven study that looks at shifts across both the content and ad experience on connected TV taking shape this year. The in-depth report reveals metrics on sessions, ad load, and viewership in order to provide streamers and content providers with insights that can help inform business decisions.

“As one of the largest operators of FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channels and a leader from the very beginning in this space, Wurl is in a unique position to recognize viewership habits, and help our streamers and publishers develop strategies to engage their audiences”

This latest trends report from Wurl comes as the evolving CTV landscape continues to grow increasingly complex. With more streaming content now available than ever before, both publishers and marketers must prioritize the modern viewer experience and understand how key trends surrounding viewer behavior can impact their business strategies – including how shifts toward CTV are influencing engagement and where the industry stands post-pandemic.

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“As one of the largest operators of FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channels and a leader from the very beginning in this space, Wurl is in a unique position to recognize viewership habits, and help our streamers and publishers develop strategies to engage their audiences,” said Ron Gutman, CEO, Wurl. “While our latest insights show viewer engagement on CTV climbing, growth isn’t where it used to be as discoverability challenges with the EPG and user experience persist, signaling an opportunity for greater innovation on the medium.”

Key takeaways from the report include:

• Average daily hours of viewing are increasing: After experiencing a rise during COVID-19 from 2020 to 2022 – and a slight decline thereafter – average daily HOV is seeing an uptick in 2024, up 5% in Q3 2024 compared to Q3 2023.
• CTV is slowly growing stickier: Churn rates have largely stabilized and seen a slight downward trend over the past three years.
• Viewers are watching for longer: After experiencing a post-pandemic dip, the average session length of CTV viewers is up nearly 7% in Q3 2024 compared to the same quarter last year.
• Holiday channels perform exceptionally well: During December, viewership on holiday channels unsurprisingly increases to four times that of other months, though 25% of viewers continue to watch holiday content throughout the summer.
• Ad fill rate is cyclical and experiences seasonal variations: 2024 fill rates are noticeably lower as compared to previous years, likely due to an explosion of supply in the market.

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