Both put your ad on a television. That's where the similarity ends. Linear TV is traditional broadcast and cable — scheduled programming, watched live. Connected TV (CTV) is streaming through internet-connected apps and devices. They're bought, targeted, and measured in completely different ways. Here's the comparison, and how to decide.
How they're bought
Linear TV is bought by program and time slot, usually through brokers or stations, often with sizable minimums and lead times. You're reserving airtime.
CTV is bought like digital — by audience and impression, frequently self-serve, with flexible budgets and fast go-live. You're buying attention, not a time slot.
For most small and mid-sized advertisers, this is the headline difference: CTV removed the gatekeepers and the big minimums.
How they target
Linear targets broadly — everyone watching a given show at a given time. You can pick programs that skew toward your audience, but you can't single out households.
CTV targets with digital precision — by location, demographics, interests, and behavior, down to ZIP-code level. A local shop can run a TV ad to streaming homes in just its own neighborhood.
How they're measured
Linear is measured mostly by panel-based ratings — estimates of how many people watched. Useful, but blunt.
CTV offers digital metrics: completion rates, reach and frequency by household, and increasingly, lift in store visits or sales. You get closer to did it work?, not just how many watched?
Where the audience is going
The viewing has shifted. Nielsen and eMarketer estimate streaming is now roughly 44% of all TV time, while only about 8% of TV ad dollars have followed — attention moved to CTV faster than budgets did. And eMarketer puts US CTV ad spend at about $38 billion in 2026, rising toward $51 billion by 2029. The momentum is clearly with streaming.
So which should you buy?
A practical way to think about it:
- Tight budget or local focus? CTV wins on flexibility, targeting, and entry cost.
- Mass national reach with a big budget? Linear can still deliver broad scale, especially for live events and sports.
- Want precision and measurement? CTV.
- Want to follow the audience? Increasingly, CTV.
For most advertisers reading this, CTV is the more accessible path onto the big screen — and it's even stronger when paired with out-of-home so your message reaches people in real life and the living room.
That pairing is exactly what Glo is built for: DOOH first, CTV also, from one video and one setup, starting at $29/day with no contract. To see how the targeting works under the hood, read how CTV ad targeting works.