LG Ad Solutions, a specialist in advanced Connected TV (CTV) advertising, has released findings illustrating how the smart TV home screen has become the new ‘first impression’ moment for advertisers — a critical space where discovery begins, decisions are made, and brand impact is won.

For decades, being first in break was the holy grail of TV advertising — the first ad to run after programming, commanding peak attention and recall. But as viewing shifted from linear schedules to streaming platforms, attention dynamics changed. Today, the first in break advantage has evolved into the first on screen opportunity: the Smart TV home screen.

“If you think about how people actually use their TVs today, everything starts on the Home Screen,” said Tony Marlow, Chief Marketing Officer at LG Ad Solutions. “It’s the heartbeat of CTV — the one place that connects every part of the viewing journey, from live and on-demand to apps and discovery. For advertisers, it’s no longer just another placement; it’s the anchor that ties their entire strategy together.”

Viewers now spend an average of almost 10 minutes browsing before deciding what to watch, making this pre-content moment prime real estate for brands. Research on the LG TV home screen found that 71 per cent of people who see a home screen ad say they’re willing to learn more about the advertised brand, and more than half (51 per cent) of LG TV users report paying attention to Home Screen ads.

The Home Screen: Where First Impressions Last

The power of the home screen is grounded in the Primacy Effect — the psychological principle that messages seen first are remembered longer and more clearly. In a streaming environment, this translates directly into higher brand attention and recall.

Recent studies show:

• 7 seconds of average attentive viewing time for home screen ads — more than any skippable pre-roll format.

• 16 per cent higher attention retention and 27 per cent stronger ad ratings, compared to standard digital placements.

• 85 per cent of viewers describe home screen ads as clear, informative, and brand-building.

These findings underscore why advertisers are rapidly shifting their CTV strategies to include the home screen. LG Ad Solutions has seen a more than 60 per cent year-over-year increase in general-market advertisers integrating home screen placements into their campaigns.

A Creative Canvas for Connection

The home screen is more than a placement – it’s a storytelling canvas that drives measurable results. LG Ad Solutions’ analysis of 120 million impressions found that interactive features deliver 3.9× higher awareness, human-centered creative boosts brand consideration by 6.4×, and clear calls-to-action placed on the right third of the screen lift purchase intent by 15×.

Anchoring the Connected TV Experience

“The LG Ad Solutions native home screen has become a key awareness strategy for driving impact at scale. We get high attention and resonance as the first brand a user sees when they turn on their TV, strong brand lift metrics and incremental reach to hard-to-find SVoD-only audiences,” said Doug Paladino, Senior Director at PMG.

Nearly all (97 per cent) of LG Smart TV users start their viewing journey on the home screen, visiting on average three times a day. This makes it the true hub of the CTV ecosystem. Research from LG Ad Solutions and MediaScience shows that campaigns integrating CTV video, home screen, and mobile video deliver 4.7× higher awareness, 8.7× stronger recall, and 11.2× greater consideration than single-channel efforts.

“The home screen is opening up a whole new creative canvas for advertisers,” concluded Marlow. “It’s not quite digital and not quite traditional TV — it’s something entirely new. We’re seeing formats like 3D ad units really take off because they grab attention in the moment of discovery, enhancing how viewers explore content rather than interrupting it.”

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Categories: Advertising, Articles, Connected TV, OTT

Tags: advertising, CTV, LG, LG Ads Solutions