In recent years, there has been a massive shift in how television is watched. Cable and satellite viewers are switching in droves to ditch traditional tv towards “Connected TT” or Streaming TV” — Naturally, the powers that be decided to come up with several acronims to confuse the issue.

So lets break it down and explain every term.
TV “Set” — The rectangular screen you view video on.
Added devices to TV Sets. — VHS – DVD – Xbox – Playstation — Roku – Amazon Fire – Apple TV – Android TV – Typically plugged in using a wire that attaches to the device, and into an input socket on the tv. Navigated to via the INPUT on remote.

Devices:

OTT – is a delivery method. In the early days of digital video streaming, traditional linear TV content might be offered additionally as streamed over the internet, or ‘over the top of’ the internet. Companies began to appear offering strictly internet streamed content, such as familiar brands like Netflix, HULU, and Disney+ among others. These were lumped into OTT as a category. Streaming TV, as it’s also sometimes called, can be accessed over a TV, but you can also log in to these services using your laptop or a phone to consume this content.

What is CTV?
CTV – is a device, literally ‘a connected TV’ to the internet. A TV might use an internet connecting device such as an Xbox or Roku box to become ‘connected’, or it may be newish type of TV, a ‘Smart TV’, which has internet connectivity built-in along with OTT apps.

What is OLV?
OLV – is Online Video. These are the video ads that you see when you visit your favorite news or entertainment site.

Over-the-Top TV (OTT)