Gracenote, the content data arm of Nielsen, is strengthening advertiser confidence in connected TV (CTV) by unveiling a new contextual advertising report that provides business intelligence, market analysis, and campaign performance data. The report offers strategic guidance to help brands address the ongoing transparency challenges in programmatic CTV ad buying and optimize investment effectiveness across platforms.
According to Emarketer, programmatic CTV ad spend is projected to reach $27 billion in 2025, representing over 84% of the estimated $32 billion total for the channel. By 2028, this figure is expected to climb to $46.9 billion, surpassing linear TV advertising for the first time. However, despite these sizable allocations, many advertisers still lack clarity on ad placement and audience reach, particularly within live sports environments.
Gracenote’s report underscores this gap, revealing that only 14.3% of sports-related CTV ad inventory includes league metadata, and just 17.9% contains team information. The lack of standardized, detailed program metadata hinders effective targeting and limits the ability to contextualize campaigns. By integrating more robust metadata into the bidstream, advertisers can unlock advanced targeting capabilities, improve ROI, and align ads more effectively with relevant content.
The study also highlights the fragmentation of sports content in CTV. A case in point is the Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky WNBA game on May 17, which featured rising stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Despite being a high-profile event, the game was distributed across nearly 2,000 different outlets, making it difficult for advertisers to locate and leverage inventory efficiently. Gracenote’s contextual data enabled differentiation of this game from over 25 simultaneous live sports broadcasts, offering advertisers precise tools to target relevant audiences and activate inventory programmatically.
“CTV is a strong channel for advertisers today, but opportunities exist to make it even better,” said Bill Michels, Chief Product Officer at Gracenote. “We’re pleased to provide new insights to brands seeking to maximize the potential of CTV and have confidence that the channel is effectively delivering on their advertising objectives.”
Gracenote’s continued investment in contextual data solutions positions it as a strategic partner for advertisers navigating an increasingly fragmented CTV ecosystem, offering a path to more transparent, targeted, and impactful campaign execution.