Completion rate measures what percentage of viewers watch your entire ad. For CTV, this number is remarkably high. It fundamentally changes what streaming TV advertising is worth.
What Completion Rate Means
Video Completion Rate (VCR) = Viewers who watched 100% of ad / Total impressions × 100
A 95% completion rate means 95 out of 100 viewers watched your entire 30-second spot. Not the first 5 seconds. Not 50%. The whole thing.
CTV Completion Rate Benchmarks
The gap is dramatic. CTV viewers watch your message. Other channels, they skip, scroll, or ignore.
Why CTV Completion Rates Are High
CTV Advantages
- + Non-skippable format in most inventory
- + Lean-back living room environment
- + Lower ad load than traditional TV
- + Sound-on by default
- + Full-screen presentation with no distractions
Premium streaming runs fewer ads per hour than traditional TV. Viewers aren’t fatigued by endless commercial breaks. They accept ads as part of the experience.
Why Completion Rates Matter for Law Firms
Message Delivery
0-5 seconds
Hook and attention grabber
5-15 seconds
Problem identification and empathy
15-25 seconds
Solution and credibility building
25-30 seconds
Call to action and firm name
If viewers skip at 5 seconds, they miss 80% of your message, including your firm name and phone number. With 95% completion, nearly everyone sees the full arc. That’s the difference between “I saw a lawyer ad” and “I saw Smith & Jones.”
Cost Efficiency
You pay for impressions. If 50% of viewers skip, you’re paying for impressions that delivered partial value.
The “cheaper” channel is actually more expensive for delivered messages.
Attention Quality
Completion is one thing. Attention is another. CTV delivers both:
Viewers aren’t just completing. They’re paying attention.
Completion Rate by Spot Length
| Spot Length | Typical Completion |
|---|---|
| 15 seconds | 96-98% |
| 30 seconds | 94-96% |
| 60 seconds | 90-93% |
Shorter spots complete slightly higher, but 30-second spots still achieve excellent rates. For PI messaging that needs to build empathy and credibility, 30 seconds with 95% completion beats 15 seconds with 97% completion.
Completion Rate vs. Other Metrics
Completion rate matters, but it’s not the only metric:
| Metric | What It Measures |
|---|---|
| Completion Rate | Did they watch? |
| Verified Visit Rate | Did they visit your website? |
| Conversion Rate | Did they become a lead? |
| Cost Per Lead | What did you actually pay? |
High completion is necessary but not sufficient. Great creative with 95% completion and 0.3% verified visits beats mediocre creative with 95% completion and 0.1% verified visits. Completion gets the message seen. Creative makes it matter.
What Affects Completion Rates
Improves Completion
- + Engaging creative that maintains attention
- + Fresh creative (not over-exposed)
- + Premium content environments
- + Relevant audience targeting
Reduces Engagement
- − Repetitive creative causing tune-out
- − High frequency fatigue
- − Background/ambient viewing
- − Irrelevant audience (they complete but don't engage)
The Competitive Advantage
When competitors run YouTube pre-roll, 75% of their message is skipped. When you run CTV, 95% of your message is seen.
That’s nearly 4x the message delivery at the same impression volume.
Related Reading
- CTV Creative Best Practices: What makes high-performing law firm CTV ads
- Web Visits vs Phone Calls: The Response Shift: What happens after viewers watch
- How CTV Works for Personal Injury: The full CTV workflow
References
- IAB & Innovid. (2022). CTV takes center stage: 2022 video benchmarks. https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Innovid_CTV-Takes-Center-Stage.pdf
- SEO Design Chicago. (2025). CTV advertising statistics. https://seodesignchicago.com/case-study/ctv-connected-tv-advertising-statistics-2025/
- Decentriq. (2025). CTV advertising: The complete guide. https://www.decentriq.com/article/ctv-advertising