Connected TV (CTV) is the internet-connected television in the living room. OTT is the streaming video that reaches it. Because each stream goes to one household, a local business can buy just the homes near it.
That is why the two terms matter to a restaurant, a gym or a plumber, not just to national brands. Here is what each one means, how local targeting works, what it costs and how you can tell whether it’s working.
What Is CTV and OTT?
CTV (Connected TV) is a television connected to the internet: a smart TV, or a regular TV with a streaming device such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV plugged in. It describes the screen.
OTT (Over-the-Top) is video delivered over the internet, “over the top” of cable or satellite. It describes how the show gets to the viewer, and it can play on a TV, a phone, a tablet or a computer.
| CTV | OTT | |
|---|---|---|
| In plain English | Where people watch | How the show gets there |
| What it describes | A device: the internet-connected TV | A delivery method: streaming over the internet |
| Examples | Smart TVs, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, game consoles | Streaming services and their apps |
| Where an ad plays | The big screen in the living room | Any screen: TV, phone, tablet or computer |
Streaming Is the New Standard
Streaming is no longer the alternative. In May 2025 it passed broadcast and cable combined in Nielsen’s monthly measure of US TV viewing for the first time, at 44.8% of all TV time (Nielsen, The Gauge, May 2025).
For a local business the bigger change is how those ads are delivered. Linear TV sends one signal to everyone in a market. A stream goes to one household at a time, so each ad can be chosen for the home it plays in.
Linear TV
One signal for the market
- Everyone watching sees the same ad
- You pay for the whole TV market
- Most viewers may live far from you
- Audience is a ratings estimate
CTV and OTT
One ad per household
- Each home can get a different ad
- You pay for the impressions you buy
- Delivery can stay inside your area
- Delivery and completions are counted
Pay for the households you serve, not for a whole TV market.
How Local Targeting Works on CTV and OTT
Ad platforms typically estimate where a streaming household is from its internet connection, then play your ad only in homes inside the areas you picked. On Omnya you can draw that area several ways.
- ZIP codes: search one at a time or paste a whole list.
- Radius: a circle around your address.
- City, county or metro: for businesses that serve a whole town or region (a metro is a DMA).
- Congressional district: for advocacy and public-sector campaigns.
Geographic targeting
- Include
Chicago, IllinoisMetro
9,712,804 reach
- Include
Chicago, ILin ILCity
2,705,664 reach
- Include
Illinois District 7IL-7District
1,712,467 reach
Or paste ZIP codes in bulk
On top of the area you can add interests, age and other demographics, or one of more than 1,000 audience segments. Geography usually matters most for a local business, so start there.
What CTV and OTT Advertising Costs
Streaming TV is priced by CPM, the cost of 1,000 impressions. Because you buy impressions rather than a market, the budget can be as small as your area.
In numbers
- a day per campaign to start, pay as you go
- $10
- a day per campaign to start, pay as you go
- starting CPM for Streaming TV
- $15
- starting CPM for Streaming TV
- the soonest a campaign can start
- 24 hrs
- the soonest a campaign can start
For example, $15 a day for 30 days is $450. At a $15 CPM that buys about 30,000 impressions, all inside the ZIP codes you chose. A market-wide buy of the same size would spread those impressions across the whole metro.
The Campaign Forecast shows estimated impressions, CPM and reach for your exact area before you pay. Our post on hyperlocal CTV walks through the metro-versus-ZIP maths in more detail.
How CTV and OTT Results Are Measured
Unlike linear TV, a streamed ad reports back. Here is what you can read on Omnya, and what you’ll want to measure yourself.
- Impressions: how many times your ad played.
- Video completion: how many viewers watched to the end (the VCR).
- Clicks and conversions: conversions need the Omnya tracking pixel on your website.
- Publishers: each channel report has a tab showing where your ads ran.
OmnyView puts these numbers for all your channels in one report you can share by link. Data can take a few hours to appear.
Give TV its own offer
A code or phrase that only appears in the ad tells you who came from it.
Send people to a page you can count
A short web address in the ad, with the pixel on that page.
Compare your ZIPs
Bookings and calls in the ZIP codes you targeted, before and during the campaign, against the ones you didn’t.
Why It Matters
TV used to belong to whoever could afford a whole market. CTV and OTT break that market into households, so a business that serves a few neighborhoods can buy just those.
That suits almost any business with a local customer base, from restaurants and gyms to home services and auto dealers. The ad is the same big-screen spot; only the waste is gone.
On Omnya you can search or paste your area, see the reach and forecast, and launch from $10 a day. See how targeting works.