TV and CTV specs.

TV and CTV are two deliveries

Broadcast TV spots run through a network or a station. CTV, connected TV, means ads that play inside streaming apps on a TV screen. Both play on the biggest screen in the house, and both get checked before they run, but each has its own rules for files, sound and length.

Specs change. The only safe source for a spec is the platform's own spec page, read on the day you deliver, with that date written beside the line. That is how we build every spec table, and it is why this guide gives you the questions to answer rather than numbers that may be out of date by the time you read them.

What every spec line should answer

For each platform, write one line that answers these, link the spec page and date it. If a platform does not say, write that down too, so nobody guesses later.

• Aspect ratio and frame size
• Frame rate
• Spot lengths the platform accepts
• File type and codec
• Audio loudness and channel layout
• Captions: burned in or sent as a file
• Safe areas for text and logos
• Slate or ID requirements
• How to deliver, and the deadline before air

Shoot once, deliver every size

The best crop is the one you planned on set. When a spot runs on TV, CTV and social, frame for all of them on the day: the wide 16:9 for the screen and the tall 9:16 for the phone, with the product and the faces safe in both.

Our Studio work ends in one step: deliver every cut and size, from TV and CTV specs to 9:16. Plan it in pre production, not in the edit, and the edit gets simpler and the cuts stay true to the idea.

Speed comes from the same plan. For the adidas World Cup 26 away kit launch in Los Angeles, the 30 second recap film landed the day after, because the cut was decided before the night began.

Script the short cuts

A TV spot rarely travels alone. Plan the shorter versions and the social cuts as part of the script, so each one has its own beginning and end instead of being trimmed from the master. Mark the lines that survive in the shortest cut before anyone shoots them.

Name every file

Put the brand, the spot, the length, the ratio and the version in every file name. Keep a delivery sheet that lists each file next to the platform it is for and the date its spec was checked. The person who uploads it may never have seen the shoot.

Two examples from our work

The LA Golf putter TV ad was made entirely in CGI in 2023. With no camera on set, every frame was built in the scene, so the TV master and the shorter cuts could come from the same build.

For ZBiotics we made spots for connected TV alongside always on social and seasonal spots for Thanksgiving and New Year's. The work had to hold from the phone to the TV.

Sound, captions and text

On a TV the sound is usually on. On a phone it often is not. Mix for both: a full mix for the TV master and captions for every cut that may play muted.

Keep text and logos inside the safe area so nothing gets cut off on a screen you did not test. Read every word on screen out loud once before export, because a typo on the biggest screen in the house is hard to miss.

Before it ships

Watch the final file on a real TV and a real phone. Check the first and last frames, the levels and the spelling of every word on screen. Then send it with its spec line and the date you checked it, so the next person knows exactly what was delivered and against which rules.

The checklist

• Each platform's own spec page read on delivery day, and the date written down
• Aspect ratios planned on set: 16:9 and 9:16
• Product and faces safe in every crop
• Lengths cut to what each platform accepts
• Frame rate and file type matched to the spec
• Loudness checked against the spec
• Captions made for every cut that may play muted
• Text and logos inside the safe area
• Slate or ID added where the platform asks for one
• Final file watched on a TV and on a phone
• Delivered before the deadline, with its spec line attached