CTV advertising statistics

US CTV ad spend, 2026 forecast

$37.95B

eMarketer's 2026 forecast for total US connected TV advertising investment, up ~14% year over year.

Source: eMarketer · as of 2026-04

CTV upfront spend vs. primetime linear, 2026

$17.73B vs $16.98B

First year US CTV upfront ad spending is forecast to exceed primetime linear TV upfront spending.

Source: eMarketer · as of 2026-04

US CTV ad spend, 2028 forecast

$46.89B

eMarketer projects CTV ad spend will surpass total traditional TV advertising for the first time in 2028.

Source: eMarketer · as of 2026-04

Programmatic share of CTV ad spend

76%

Share of CTV ad spend transacted programmatically, up from 54% in 2023.

Source: eMarketer · as of 2026

Retail media CTV ad spend, 2025

$4.46B

Retail media networks' spend on CTV inventory; retail is now the largest ad-spend category on CTV at just under 20% of total.

Source: MNTN Research · as of 2025

Retail media CTV ad spend, 2029 forecast

$9.03B

Projected growth in retail media CTV spend as commerce data connects with TV advertising.

Source: MNTN Research · as of 2025

Political CTV ad spend, 2026 midterms

$2.7B

Projected connected TV spend for the 2026 midterm cycle — a 122% increase over 2022 and the first cycle where CTV crosses 25% of total political ad spend.

Source: Kinetiq 2026 Political Media Forecast · as of 2026-04

Total US political ad spend, 2026 midterms

$10B

Projected spend across all media for the 2026 midterm cycle, the most expensive midterm cycle on record — up from $8.9B in 2022.

Source: Campaigns & Elections · as of 2026

Streaming share of total US TV viewing

48.6%

Record high streaming share of total TV watch-time, with broadcast at 19.2% and cable at 20.4% — the lowest levels since Nielsen began the Gauge.

Source: Nielsen The Gauge · as of 2026-05

Streaming share of TV, prior record

47.5%

The record streaming share reported at the time — a useful trendline data point against the May 2026 figure above.

Source: Nielsen The Gauge · as of 2025-12

US households owning a CTV device

86%

Share of US households owning at least one internet-connected TV device, up from 75% in 2019 — ownership is described as approaching saturation.

Source: VAB (Video Advertising Bureau) · as of 2026-06

US TV households with a CTV device

88%

Share of US TV households that use at least one internet-connected TV device — an independent cross-check against the VAB figure above.

Source: Leichtman Research Group · as of 2025

Blended US CTV CPM, 2026

$25–$45

Working CPM range for most standard programmatic CTV campaigns, per real transaction data compiled across the market.

Source: DataLatte · as of 2026

FAST channel CPM range

$15–$25

Free ad-supported streaming inventory trades below standard programmatic CTV and well below premium/targeted tiers.

Source: NA Media Experts CTV Benchmarks · as of 2026

Premium / highly-targeted CTV CPM

$40–$60

CPM range for premium, highly-targeted CTV inventory — B2B and SaaS audiences trend toward the upper end due to narrower targeting.

Source: NA Media Experts CTV Benchmarks · as of 2026

Non-skippable CTV completion rate

~94–98%

Widely reported, but worth reading with context: on non-skippable CTV inventory, near-total completion is structurally automatic since the viewer usually can't skip — it isn't on its own evidence of ad quality or engagement.

Source: ppc.land · as of 2026

VAST 4.2 status

Current IAB standard

VAST 4.2 is the current IAB Tech Lab specification for video ad serving and the recommended version for CTV deployments.

Source: IAB Tech Lab · as of 2026

Roku streaming households

100M+

Roku passed 100 million streaming households worldwide, a milestone disclosed in its Q1 2026 shareholder letter.

Source: Roku / Variety · as of 2026-04

Samsung TV Plus monthly active users

100M+

Samsung TV Plus started 2026 above 100M global monthly active users, with a 92% three-month retention rate.

Source: Samsung Newsroom · as of 2026-01

YouTube TV subscribers (analyst estimate)

~9.4M

Analyst estimate of US YouTube TV subscribers; YouTube TV is separately forecast to become one of the largest pay-TV distributors in the US.

Source: StreamTV Insider · as of 2025-Q1

FAST channels available in the US

~1,200–1,300+

Estimates vary by counting methodology and what qualifies as 'active' — different trackers report figures from ~1,200 to 1,900+ depending on scope and date.

Source: Apprupt FAST Channel Statistics · as of 2026

Global CTV invalid traffic (IVT) rate, Q1 2026

25%

Based on over 82 billion global programmatic impressions analyzed — up from 18% in Q1 2025, and higher than the reported web traffic IVT rate.

Source: Pixalate Q1 2026 Ad Fraud Benchmarks · as of 2026-Q1

US CTV app invalid traffic (IVT) rate, Q1 2026

24%

North America-specific IVT rate on CTV apps, from the same Pixalate quarterly benchmark report.

Source: Pixalate Q1 2026 Ad Fraud Benchmarks · as of 2026-Q1