The difference between traditional, linear, connected TV (CTV), OTT, and advanced TV advertising

Television advertising has evolved far beyond traditional broadcast commercials. Today, advertisers can reach audiences through linear TV, connected TV (CTV), over-the-top (OTT) streaming services, and advanced TV advertising—each offering different ways to deliver content, target viewers, and measure campaign performance.

Understanding the differences between these TV advertising models is essential for choosing the right strategy. In this article, we explain how linear TV, OTT, CTV, and advanced TV work, compare their key characteristics, and explore how advertisers use each approach to engage today’s audiences.

Content delivery models in television

Television content can be delivered through different models that determine how viewers access and interact with programs. The main approaches include scheduled broadcasting through linear TV and internet-based models that provide more flexibility, personalization, and control over the viewing experience.

These models differ in how content is distributed and how much control viewers have over what they watch, so let’s take a closer look at each one.

Linear TV

Linear television works by broadcasting TV programs on specific channels in scheduled time slots. In other words, the viewer has to tune in at a certain time to watch the programs they want to watch.

Here are some other points about Linear TV:

• It’s a traditional content distribution system.
• The viewer can record a given program on a DVR and watch it later.
• The viewer has no power over the displayed content — i.e. they have to watch whatever is on at the time.

Advanced TV

Advanced TV refers to the various ways of streaming television content and includes addressable TV, connected TV, over-the-top, and video on demand.

Advanced TV evolved from traditional linear TV delivery models, the main difference is how the ads are served. Advanced TV enables more accurate user targeting and thus is in opposition to the traditional broadcasting model where targeting is somewhat limited.

Under the advanced television name, we have the following terms:

• OTT (over-the-top) video: Video-streaming providers, such Netflix, Hulu and Disney, serve content to viewers via the Internet.
• Connected TV (CTV): Similarly to OTT, video providers utilize an Internet connection to distribute their content. The difference between CTV and OTT is that CTV is about the devices and OTT is about the services.
• Addressable TV: Advertisers can display different ads to various audience segments even if they watch the same TV program. Addressable TV is applicable to IPTV and set-top boxes in live, playback, and VOD modes.

Over-The-Top (OTT)

Over-the-top (OTT) is a streaming model that delivers video content through the internet instead of traditional broadcast, cable, or satellite networks. Unlike traditional television distribution, OTT allows viewers to access content directly through streaming services on connected devices.

For a viewer to access OTT services, they need a smart TV, smartphone, tablet, computer, game console, or streaming device like AppleTV and Roku. Advertising on OTT is similar to advertising on linear TV, with the difference being the delivery model — ads are served through streaming services.

Connected TV (CTV)

Connected TV (CTV) describes the devices that allow viewers to stream digital content on a television screen through an internet connection. These include smart TVs, streaming devices, and gaming consoles that support OTT services. However, according to the IAB Tech Lab, the term CTV does not include laptops, smartphones, and tablets because they are multifunctional devices and not closely correlated with television.

Content discovery platforms

Content discovery platforms (CDPs) personalize the viewing experience by using data and metadata to recommend relevant movies, TV shows, and other content. Unlike linear TV, these platforms give viewers more control over what they watch and how they interact with content. The user interacts with the content (pauses, plays from the beginning, turns it on when they want to), evaluates it, saves it to lists, and even — in selected productions — can control the course of a movie or an interactive game script.

Content discovery platforms mainly work with the OTT model, but can also work with linear TV. Thanks to the metadata, i.e. pieces of information about viewers’ preferences, content discovery platforms can find movies and TV programs that have a good chance to appeal to the viewer.

There are companies such as RedBee and TV Genius (acquired by RedBee) that offer CDPs platforms but OTT service providers can expand their own algorithms to include this functionality as well.

See how Netflix delivers its recommendations to users:

HbbTV

Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) combines traditional television with a broadband Internet connection. It provides additional services and information that viewers can access while watching regular broadcast TV. For example, if the viewer watches a soccer match, a HbbTV overlay can show statistics from the game.

This kind of extension is available through smart TVs (via the remote control), but also via CTVs (e.g. game consoles) and OTT streaming devices.

Peer-To-Peer TV (P2PTV)

P2PTV is an application that aims to redistribute video streams (usually TV channels from around the world) in real-time inside P2P networks. P2PTV streams can be shared and watched by anyone on the network.

Internet Protocol TV (IPTV)

Internet Protocol television (IPTV or streaming media) streams the source media continuously in real time. IPTV is utilized by not only streaming television but also subscriber-based telecommunication networks, as well as corporate and private networks. IPTV offers live television, catch-up TV, start-over TV, and video on demand (VOD).

TV advertising

TV advertising is a form of marketing that uses television content to promote products, services, or brands. Over time, it has evolved from traditional broadcast commercials into a wider advertising ecosystem that includes linear TV, addressable TV, OTT, and CTV advertising.

The first company to show a TV ad was Bulova on July 1, 1941, on WNBT station. In 1946, Ford’s cars appeared in the first nationwide TV advertising spot broadcast on American television.

Initially, in Europe, television was supposed to be an advertising-free medium, but the production and broadcasting of television programs required large funds to operate, which is why television stations began selling airtime to advertisers.

The first TV ads were pretty static. Back then, the text was more important than the image, as such a spot could be played multiple times. In the 1960s, the ads started to feature jokes, references to politics, diseases, and many other topics. Advertisers began to perceive audiences as specific social groups.

Twenty years later, music television emerged and was able to reach young people. In the 90s, research on target groups appeared and media houses were established. From the 2000s, advertisers began to communicate more directly with their clients and talk about all possible topics, even those considered taboo.

We can now see that companies are using new technologies to create, run and manage TV ads, and therefore, new advertising formats have emerged.

Linear TV advertising

Linear TV advertising remains an important channel for reaching large audiences, especially for live events, sports, and news. However, viewing habits continue to shift toward streaming, making linear TV one part of a broader multi-platform advertising ecosystem.

According to Nielsen’s Upfront Planning Guide, linear TV accounted for 33.4% of ad-supported TV viewing among adults aged 18–49, while streaming represented 66.7% of their ad-supported TV time. At the same time, Nielsen highlights that linear TV remains important for live sports, events, and news, showing that traditional broadcast still plays a key role alongside newer advertising formats.

To combine the reach of linear TV with more advanced targeting capabilities, companies such as Adelphic have introduced programmatic linear TV (PLTV) solutions for media buyers. These solutions allow advertisers to apply additional audience targeting methods while still using traditional television inventory.

Addressable TV advertising

Addressable TV advertising is a targeted advertising approach that allows advertisers to deliver different ads to specific households watching the same TV program. Instead of showing one commercial to every viewer, addressable TV uses audience data to personalize ad delivery based on household characteristics and preferences.

OTT and CTV advertising

OTT advertising refers to displaying ads on streaming services and CTV advertising refers to delivering ad content to consumers via smart TVs, game consoles, and streaming service devices.

The majority of CTV and OTT ads are bought and sold via direct deals and private marketplace (PMP) deals because they are considered as limited and premium inventory.

Client-side ad insertion (CSAI) and server-side ad insertion (SSAI) are two main methods to serve OTT and CTV ads:

• Client-side ad insertion (CSAI): With this method, the ad is preloaded into the video player of the OTT device or service, or an ad request is sent out to a third-party ad server from the video player.
• Server-side ad insertion (SSAI): SSAI stitches the ad slots into the video content. Ads are then selected upon the request of the various AdTech platforms and displayed to the viewers at the right moment.

HbbTV advertising

Advertising in Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) means delivering ad content via special applications accessed with two things: the Internet and a TV remote control.

Each HbbTV application has its URL. To connect with the website and serve ad content, the viewer typically hits the red button on their remote control when they see a red dot in the corner of their TV screen.

Traditional, linear, OTT, CTV, and advanced TV: choosing the right TV advertising model

Linear TV, OTT, CTV, and Advanced TV each offer distinct advantages for viewers and advertisers. While linear TV remains effective for reaching broad audiences through scheduled programming, internet-connected technologies give viewers greater control over how they discover and consume content while enabling advertisers to deliver more targeted and measurable campaigns.

The table below summarizes the key differences between the main TV delivery and advertising models.

As television has evolved, viewers have gained greater control over their viewing experience. Content discovery platforms help users find relevant movies and shows through personalized recommendations, while technologies such as HbbTV enhance traditional broadcasts with interactive features and additional content.

The shift toward internet-connected television has also transformed advertising. Instead of relying solely on broad-reach campaigns, advertisers can now combine traditional linear TV with Advanced TV solutions to engage audiences more effectively across multiple viewing environments.

The future of TV advertising is moving toward a more connected ecosystem where linear TV, CTV, OTT, and addressable solutions work together to combine reach with more precise audience targeting.

Want to see how these TV advertising models could work for your brand? Let’s set up a time to talk.

Rate this article!

Average 0.0 out of 5

Natalia Figas

Technology Researcher

Natalia Figas is a contributor to The AdTech Book and researcher specializing in AdTech and MarTech systems. With a background in journalism, she investigates the technological, operational, and strategic dynamics shaping modern digital advertising.