Last week, we wrote about the blurring of CTV and DOOH, which some called “sorta CTV.” That was based on comments made by Jounce’s Chris Kane to AdExchanger in an article about Atmosphere TV.
See the relevant passage here:
But T-Mobile’s move – and Atmosphere’s business model – also put a spotlight on the gray area between DOOH billboards and connected TV. This gray area – Chris Kane, founder of Jounce Media, calls it “sorta CTV” – includes TV screens that play video with ad breaks in public places.
Atmosphere TV is an interesting business. They provide free, pre-curated (a select group of channels) CTV devices to businesses like bars, hotels, and gyms. This allows the business to offer TV entertainment to customers at no cost. The devices connect to the internet and run ads, which is how Atmosphere TV makes money and can afford to subsidize the hardware. While the businesses don’t get a cut of the ad revenue, they do get to run their own ad in the first available slot. (Our local bar has this and only now do I realize that it’s provided by Atmosphere TV.)
Why This Matters:
The “sorta CTV” debate highlights the need to better classify video inventory that runs in unique places.
After our article last week on the DOOH and CTV debate, Atmosphere TV CEO Blake Sabatinelli responded on X, acknowledging the need for more clarity.
Experts React:
“We agree that there needs to be further clarification around our inventory. It’s new and differentiated while also sitting in its own lane,” he wrote.
Sabatinelli emphasized that, from his and the company’s perspective, “Largely, DOOH is NOT CTV. That doesn’t diminish it—DOOH is fantastic, and it’s wildly varied too.”
He also backed the idea that TVs in bars function as TV: “Chris is right—watching TVs at a bar is TV. That has been settled fact by the media buying community that pays for these OOH TV viewership impressions via Nielsen/VideoAmp/iSpot measurement, just as people sitting on their couch are doing fundamentally the same thing—watching TV.”
Finally, he acknowledged the complexity of how Atmosphere TV is classified: “We acknowledge the fact that we’ve created addressability on a TV in a new place that sits outside of the living room. Today, some buyers access that as CTV, others as DOOH, and others still as digital video.”
Our Take:
This is where the conversation gets complicated. In our view, Atmosphere TV has created something highly valuable for the ad market. They provide SMBs (and up) with free CTV devices, benefiting both the businesses and their customers. Publishers featured get additional exposure (and some form of compensation, we imagine), while advertisers get a new way to reach viewers in an environment traditionally dominated by less dynamic, “dumb” cable and satellite ad breaks. It’s a win for everyone.
You see this in the company’s numbers. Atmosphere TV claims 150 million monthly viewers and is valued at over one billion after a big Series D round in 2023.
However, because this is a new model, the industry still needs to catch up in terms of how the inventory is classified and how its performance is measured. Perhaps a new category name would help? CTVOOH? No? Horrible? We tried!
