Media · Mezzi · Deep dive
TV, CTV & total video: reach, formats and measurement
From traditional TV to connected TV and online video, run as one total video reach: the formats, how it's bought, how it's truly measured and when it pays off.
MEDIA · TOTAL VIDEO
In · The same viewer, different screens
Out · Governed total video
Linear TV
TV that airs at a set time, the same for everyone. Maximum simultaneous reach, ideal for events and mass audiences. Bought by daypart and programme, not by individual person.
CTV · connected TV
The same television content watched via streaming on the living-room screen. Bought like digital: by audience, with governable frequency and verified impressions.
Online video
Video off the television set — desktop and mobile, in-stream and in-feed. It adds incremental reach and completes the story on personal screens.
Total video reach (deduplicated)
The single, deduplicated reach that comes from planning the three worlds together: the same person counted once, frequency governed across screens.
Measured effect
Proof that the campaign moved the business: completion, attention and incremental effect read on one surface, not three reports claiming the same credit.
One reach, three ways of watching
"Total video" is the way of treating traditional TV, connected TV and online video as a single reach, instead of three separate buys stepping on each other. Same viewer, different screens.
Linear TV
The channel that airs at a set time, the same for everyone: maximum simultaneous reach, ideal for events and mass audiences. Bought by daypart and programme, not by individual person.
CTV — connected TV
The same television content watched via streaming on the living-room screen (smart TVs, dongles, consoles). Bought like digital: by audience, with governable frequency and verified impressions.
Online video
Video off the television set — desktop and mobile, in-stream and in-feed. It adds incremental reach and completes the story on personal screens.
Why "total"
Because the same viewer moves from the sofa to the phone within the same afternoon. Planning the three worlds together avoids paying twice for the same person while leaving others uncovered.
What you can actually put on air
It's no longer just the 30-second spot. In 2026 total video is a family of formats, each with a different job.
In-stream spot
The classic video before, during or after the content — 15, 20 or 30 seconds. It works on memory and emotion: this is where awareness is built.
Pause ad
The message that appears when the viewer pauses. It doesn't interrupt, it catches a natural moment of attention. It now has a shared industry standard.
Interactive and shoppable formats
Overlays, on-screen QR codes, remote-driven micro-actions: they turn watching into a gesture. They open a measurable bridge between TV and action, beyond awareness alone.
Live events and sports adjacency
The space around the big live event: the widest simultaneous reach there is today, where attention is high and shared.
FAST channels and free streaming
Free ad-supported themed channels: broad inventory, clear context, vertical audiences reachable at more sustainable costs.
Addressable spot
The same TV break, but with different creatives to different households. It brings TV closer to digital's precision without losing the scale.
Four ways to buy, one strategy
The three worlds of total video are bought in different ways. The choice of buying route changes price, precision and guarantees — and should be decided by goal, not by habit.
| Buying route | How it works | When it makes sense |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront / guaranteed | Volumes and prices agreed in advance on strong programmes and periods. | When you need certain presence on the big moments and locked prices. |
| Programmatic guaranteed | Price and volume fixed with the publisher, but the deal automated via a platform. | When you want guaranteed premium inventory with digital's control. |
| Programmatic auction (CTV/video) | Bought per impression, by audience, with governable frequency and verification. | When precision, incremental reach and budget flexibility matter. |
| Direct with the publisher | A negotiated deal on packages, sponsorships or special formats. | When context, editorial integration or sport matter more than pure scale. |
From reach to business effect
Measuring total video doesn't mean adding up three platforms' reports. It means deduplicating, reading attention and proving real effect. In that order.
The same person seen across TV, CTV and video must be counted once. Without deduplication, reach is inflated and frequency runs loose.
It's not enough that the spot starts: what counts is that it finishes and is actually seen. Attention metrics bridge awareness and performance.
The real question: how many sales or how much demand wouldn't have existed without the campaign? Proven with tests and holdouts, not last click.
The three worlds converge into a single surface, where you judge the mix — not separate channels claiming the same credit.
Measurement is continuous: read while the campaign runs, not only at close.
The signs total video is — or isn't — the right choice
No medium is right all the time. Total video shines in some scenarios and wastes budget in others. You recognise it like this.
- It works when you need scale with authority. A large audience reached fast, in a premium context that lends the brand credibility: here it has no rival.
- It works when emotion moves the category. Launch, repositioning, building memory: big-screen video works where a banner alone can't reach.
- It works when you want to govern frequency across screens. CTV lets you avoid hammering the same household and recover those linear TV no longer touches.
- It needs managing when inventory is fragmented. Across publishers, apps and walled gardens measurement isn't automatic: it needs deduplication and a shared currency, or reach is only apparent.
- It isn't enough alone for an immediate, niche response. If the goal is a narrow, very short-term conversion, total video should be paired with — not replaced by — other media.
True for anyone seeking awareness and reach: the principle holds, dosage and mix change.
Media-neutral, transparent, measurable
We don't sell TV because we have space to place. We plan total video only when it's the right medium — and we say so when it isn't.
We start from the goal, not the medium
TV, CTV and video enter the plan if they serve your reach and your effect — not because "it's always been done" or to fill a budget.
We plan the three worlds together
One deduplicated reach, frequency governed across screens: no overlapping buys stealing value from each other.
We buy the right way for each goal
Upfront, guaranteed, programmatic or direct: we pick the buying route by purpose, with legible chain and prices.
We measure effect, not spend
Deduplicated reach, attention and incrementality in one reading: what moved the business, not how many impressions we bought.
TV isn't expensive or cheap in the absolute: it's right or wrong for what you need to achieve. Our job is to tell you which of the two.
Before you ask
What's the difference between linear TV, CTV and online video?
Linear TV airs at a set time, the same for everyone, and is bought by daypart and programme. CTV is the same television content watched via streaming on the TV set, bought like digital: by audience, with frequency and verified impressions. Online video is video off the television set, on desktop and mobile. In total video they're planned together as a single reach.
Is TV still relevant in 2026, or is streaming alone enough?
Both matter, for different jobs. Linear TV remains unbeatable for simultaneous reach on big events; CTV adds precision, governed frequency and incremental reach on those linear no longer touches. The choice isn't "either/or", but how much of each, depending on the goal.
Does CTV cost more than traditional TV?
Premium CTV's cost per thousand is usually higher than linear TV's, because you pay for precision, context and verified impressions. But comparing on price alone is misleading: what counts is cost per useful reach and per incremental effect, not the rate card. CTV often pays off precisely where linear wastes.
How do you measure a total video campaign without being fooled?
Three steps, in this order: deduplicate reach across the three worlds (the same person counted once), read completion and attention, prove incremental effect with tests and holdouts instead of last click. Fragmentation across publishers and walled gardens makes deduplication the critical point: without a shared currency, reach is only apparent.
Does total video work for smaller budgets too?
Yes, now more than before. Programmatic buying in CTV lets you start with sustainable budgets, buying by audience rather than by mass volume. FAST channels and free streaming widen the accessible inventory. The principle doesn't change with scale: dosage and buying route do.
What really makes creative effective for total video?
That it works on the screen it will air on. A big living-room screen asks for emotion and story; personal screens ask for pace and legibility even without sound. Interactive and shoppable formats open a measurable action, but only if the creative is built for that gesture, not adapted at the last minute.
Cases
From problem to result — anonymised.
A launch that demanded scale and credibility
Problem A new product to make known fast to a broad audience, with a still little-known brand to render authoritative.
Method In-stream spots on the big moments for reach, CTV by audience to recover those linear didn't touch, frequency governed across screens.
Result One deduplicated reach instead of three overlapping buys, with awareness built where it mattered and no wasted repetition.
A budget scattering across platforms
Problem Three separate buys — TV, CTV, video — partly hitting the same people, with no common reading of real reach.
Method Total video planning with deduplication upstream and one measurement surface for reach, frequency and attention.
Result Overlaps removed before spend and useful reach made legible, instead of three reports that contradicted each other.
TV that didn't connect to action
Problem Strong television presence but no bridge between watching and what happened next, with all credit going to last click.
Method Interactive and shoppable formats in CTV plus an incrementality design with holdout to isolate real effect.
Result The big-screen video effect made visible and separated from the traffic that would have come anyway.
Go deeper
Media-neutral planning→
How to decide how much total video the plan really needs, without medium bias.
Measure incrementality→
How to prove TV moved the business, beyond completion and last click.
Programmatic buying governance→
The pre-bid rules protecting quality, brand and price when you buy CTV at auction.