The comparison
| Dimension | CTV | DOOH |
|---|---|---|
| Audience context | At home, couch, sound on | Out of home, venue or transit, sound off |
| Audience targeting | Household and device-level | Geographic and venue-level |
| Creative format | 15s/30s sound-on | 15s sound-off (typically) |
| CPM | $25–$60 | $5–$30 |
| Reach | Fragmented across services | Broad geographic |
| Best for | Narrative storytelling, brand awareness | Conversion-window alignment, geographic precision |
When each wins
CTV: campaigns where narrative storytelling matters, audience is at home, household-level targeting is required, and the campaign objective is brand awareness or consideration.
DOOH: campaigns where audience-context attention matters, the conversion window aligns with venue/transit time, geographic precision is required, and reach to audiences who don't watch home TV is a goal.
Both: most multi-channel campaigns benefit from layering CTV and DOOH together — CTV at home, DOOH in venue, both reaching the same cross-section of the audience in different contexts.