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In today's media landscape, most consumers don't differentiate between programming viewed on broadcast, cable, ADS-delivered, and online or mobile channels. It's all considered "TV viewing" and the positives, opportunities and challenges apply to "video" across the board:
- TV set penetration in U.S. households is high.
- According to Nielsen, there are 131MM TV homes in the U.S. for the 2025-2026 TV season.
(Source: Nielsen, National Television Household Universe Estimates)
- 72% of Americans watch live TV daily, and 86% watch streamed TV daily.
(Source: Attest, 2025 U.S. Media Consumption Report)
- 56 Millions (46%) of U.S. internet households are "cord cutters", while 12% are "cord nevers", who have never subscribed to any sort of traditional pay TV.
(Source: TVTech, Video Services Consumer Insight Dashboard, 2025)
- As of Q3 2024, 59% of subscriptions across the eight leading SVOD services are basic tier with ad subscriptions.
(Source: TVTech, Video Services Consumer Insight Dashboard, 2025)
- 73% of adults 18+ consider television to be very trustworthy/trustworthy.
(Source: Katz Media Group 2026 Media Trust Study)
- 56% of adults have gone on the internet to get more information on a product or service after seeing an ad on TV.
(Source: Gfk/NIQ TVB Media Comparisons Study 2026)
- Broadcast digital assets add significantly more reach to broadcast TV than cable or AVOD.
- Broadcast TV alone - 78.0%
- Broadcast TV and cable - 78.7% - .7% reach added.
- Broadcast TV and broadcast websites - 82.1% - 4.1% reach added.
- Broadcast TV and broadcast on digital devices - 83.3% - 5.3% reach added.
- Broadcast TV and broadcast on digital devices + broadcast websites/apps - 85.7% - 7.7% reach added.
- Broadcast TV and free streaming on a TV with ads - 80.6% - 2.6% reach added.
(Source: Gfk/NIQ TVB Media Comparisons Study 2026)
- Most time spent with TV programs across all devices is on broadcast TV. Daily time spent A18+ (in hours:minutes):
On a TV:
- Broadcast TV - 3:30
- Cable TV - 1:44
- Paid streaming TV with ads - 1:19
- Streaming video other than TV programs - 0:43
- Free streaming TV with ads - 1:11
- Paid streaming TV no ads - 0:40
On a digital device:
- Broadcast TV - 0:38
- Cable TV - 0:15
- Paid streaming TV with ads - 0:30
- Streaming video other than TV programs - 0:44
- Free streaming TV with ads - 0:13
- Paid streaming TV no ads - 0:16
(Source: Gfk/NIQ TVB Media Comparisons Study 2026)
- I trust the news that I see/hear on this media source (% that agree):
- Local broadcast TV news - 79%
- Local newspapers - 75%
- Local TV news websites/apps - 74%
- Radio stations - 73%
- Local TV news dedicated streaming news app - 73%
- Public TV news - 71%
- Network broadcast TV news - 71%
- National/local newspapers websites/apps - 68%
- National streaming news - 67%
- Network broadcast TV news websites/apps - 67%
- National newspapers - 65%
(Source: Gfk/NIQ TVB Media Comparisons Study 2026)
- Has an advertisement on television motivated you to go to the Internet to find out more information about that product or service? (% that said 'yes'):
- Adults 18+ - 56%
- Higher education - 78%
- Car buyers - 75%
- Home remodelers - 69%
- Job seekers - 67%
- Legal - 65%
(Source: Gfk/NIQ TVB Media Comparisons Study 2026)
- How long Americans spend watching TV (live or streaming) daily:
- None, Live - 28%; Streaming - 14%
- Less than 30 mins., Live - 12%; Streaming - 5%
- 30 mins. to one hour, Live - 17%; Streaming - 18.5%
- One to two hours, Live - 22%; Streaming - 33%
- Thee to four hours, Live - 13%; Streaming - 19%
- More than four hours, Live - 9%; Streaming - 10%
(Source: Attest, 2025 U.S. Media Consumption Report)
- 64% of consumers say they watch Netflix at least once a week.
- 49% watch Amazon Prime at least once a week.
- 44% watch Hulu at least once a week.
- 35% watch Disney+ at least once a week.
- 28% watch Paramount+ at least once a week.
- 28% watch Peacock at least once a week.
- 25% watch HBO Max at least once a week.
- 15.5% watch YouTube TV at least once a week.
- 12% watch Apple TV at least once a week.
(Source: Attest, 2025 U.S. Media Consumption Report)
- 79% of adults agree that they trust the news they see/hear on local broadcast TV.
(Source: Gfk/NIQ TVB Media Comparisons Study 2026)
- 69% of consumers streamed video content e.g., Netflix (increasing to 76% among millennials).
(Source: YouGov Surveys, April 16, 2025 – May 13, 2025)
- 63% of consumers watched live television (increasing to 75% among baby boomers).
(Source: YouGov Surveys, April 16, 2025 – May 13, 2025)
- 233 Million (81%) of People 12+ own a Smart TV.
(Source: The Infinite Dial 2026 - Edison Research/SiriusXM Media)
- As of March 2026, 89.5% of households had at least one internet-connected TV device.
(Source: StackAdapt, Connected TV Advertising Statistics, March 2026)
- The average U.S. adult streamed 208 minutes of TV per day in 2025
(Source: StackAdapt, Connected TV Advertising Statistics, March 2026)
- 70% of people who use cable TV are using it frequently.
(Source: Crowd React Media, The State of Media, 2025)
- 43% of people are frequently watching news and current events on cable TV while 23% are occasionally watching news and current events on cable TV.
(Source: Crowd React Media, The State of Media, 2025)
- 53% of men watch sports on cable TV.
(Source: Crowd React Media, The State of Media, 2025)
- 33% of women watch sports on cable TV.
(Source: Crowd React Media, The State of Media, 2025)
- Once viewed as an alternative to linear TV, CTV has become the dominant way to watch TV shows, movies, sports and live events.
(Source: StackAdapt, Connected TV Advertising Statistics, March 2026)
- Daily time spent on a TV + digital device, Adults 18+:
- Broadcast TV - 4:08
- Cable TV - 2:00
- Paid streaming TV with ads - 1:49
- Streaming video other than TV programs - 1:27
- Free streaming with ads - 1:24
- Paid streaming TV no ads - 0:56
(Source: Gfk/NIQ TVB Media Comparisons Study 2026)
- Connected TV (CTV) ad spending is projected to grow 11% to $29.3 billion in 2026 - a slight drop from 2025’s 12% gain
(Source: Interactive Advertising Bureau, Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Full Report, July 2026)
- Cost (47%) and audience delivery (47%) are the biggest factors why advertisers like CTV advertising.
(Source: Interactive Advertising Bureau, Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Full Report, July 2026)
- Nearly seven in 10 CTV advertisers (70%) plan to increase their CTV/OTT spending by an average of 17% in 2026.
(Source: Premion/Advertiser Perceptions, CTV/OTT Advertiser Survey, March 2026)
- Top reason for increasing ad spend on CTV/streaming TV in 2026:
- Reaches a highly engaged opt-in audience - 44%
- Combines TV’s branding power with digital’s data-driven capabilities - 40%
- Enables audience targeting in a privacy-safe, regulation-compliant way
- 39%
- CTV tends to outperform linear TV - 39%
- Precision Audience Targeting - 37%
- Achieves brand awareness and performance marketing goals
- 39%
- Captures declining TV audiences - 35%
- Advanced attribution - 33%
- Detailed reporting, measurement, and insights - 32%
- Makes premium TV inventory affordable and scalable - 31%
- Improves ad relevance - 28%
- Shorter ad pods cut through the clutter and provide better exposure - 21%
(Source: Premion/Advertiser Perceptions, CTV/OTT Advertiser Survey, March 2026)
- Team responsible for budget control for CTV/streaming TV advertising:
- Digital buying teams - 33%
- Integrated/hybrid buying teams - 55%
- Linear buying teams - 10%
- Other - 2%
(Source: Premion/Advertiser Perceptions, CTV/OTT Advertiser Survey, March 2026)
- Advertisers are prioritizing premium CTV environments for their ability to deliver both brand impact and measurable business outcomes. Improvement in ROI performance with CTV/streaming TV premium video content:
- Yes (net) - 97%
- Yes, improves ROI for upper funnel goals - 76%
- Yes, improves ROI for mid-funnel goals - 64%
- Yes, improves ROI for lower-funnel goal - 29%
- No, premium video content does not improve ROI performance - 3%
(Source: Premion/Advertiser Perceptions, CTV/OTT Advertiser Survey, March 2026)
- 50% of CTV/OTT advertising is expected to be purchased programmatically in 2026, signaling continued evolution toward flexible activation models that blend
programmatic and managed services.
(Source: Premion/Advertiser Perceptions, CTV/OTT Advertiser Survey, March 2026)
- Biggest barriers to achieving scale in CTV/streaming TV campaigns:
- Fragmentation across platforms and providers - 43%
- Difficulty deduplicating reach and frequency across channels - 35%
- Complexity in cross-channel or cross-provider campaign planning - 34%
- Challenges reaching audiences across walled gardens - 33%
- Budget constraints - 28%
- Insufficient inventory to target effectively - 28%
- Limited access to premium inventory - 27%
- Difficulty forecasting inventory availability - 19%
- I’m not sure how to scale effectively - 7%
- None of the above. I haven’t experienced barriers to achieving scale - 9%
(Source: Premion/Advertiser Perceptions, CTV/OTT Advertiser Survey, March 2026)
- Fragmentation across providers remains the biggest barrier to achieving scale, with one-third of advertisers citing challenges related to deduplicated reach, cross-provider planning and walled gardens. Main reasons for working with multiple CTV/streaming TV providers:
- To gain access to walled garden inventory (e.g., Hulu, YouTube TV, Amazon, etc.) - 56%
- To maximize reach and scale across different CTV audiences and platforms - 53%
- To achieve sufficient scale for efficient targeting - 43%
- To ensure my campaigns deliver in full and avoid under-delivery issues
- 43%
- To access premium inventory that may not be available through a single provider - 38%
- Different providers offer different targeting and measurement capabilities - 38%
- To diversify buying strategies (e.g., mix of direct buys,programmatic, managed service) - 36%
- To ensure better pricing and negotiating leverage - 29%
- Internal buying structure (e.g., different teams or agencies work with different partners) - 18%
- Based on legacy relationships or historical buying patterns
- 17%
(Source: Premion/Advertiser Perceptions, CTV/OTT Advertiser Survey, March 2026)
- Power viewers (those watching more than 4 hours per day) have grown by 35% since 2023 and now make up more than one-quarter of the U.S. adult population.
(Source: CivicScience, "The 2026 TV Audience," April 2026)
- The percentage of Americans who say they “never” watch TV has grown from 3% in 2012 to 11% today.
(Source: CivicScience, "The 2026 TV Audience," April 2026)
- On average, how many hours of TV do you watch every day?
- I never watch TV - 11%
- An hour or less - 15%
- 1-4 hours - 47%
- 4+ hours - 27%
(Source: CivicScience, "The 2026 TV Audience," April 2026)
- When consumers 18+ are "watching TV," what do they consider TV?
- Watching on a television screen - 43%
- Watching content through a streaming or TV service - 21%
- Watching a series or movie - 16%
- Watching longer-form video (versus short clips) - 4%
- None of these - I use the term for any video content - 16%
(Source: CivicScience, "The 2026 TV Audience," April 2026)
- Which the following do consumers 18+ personally consider "watching TV"? (Select all that apply)
- Watching on a streaming service (e.g., Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Paramount+, Peacock, Apple TV) - 61%
- Watching through cable or satellite service - 54%
- Watching through Live TV streaming service (e.g., YouTube TV, Fubo TV) - 43%
- Watching long-form videos on YouTube - 22%
- Watching short videos on YouTube - 20%
- Watching videos on social media platforms (e.g., TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat) - 14%
(Source: CivicScience, "The 2026 TV Audience," April 2026)
- In a typical week, where do general population consumers watch video content the most?
- Streaming services (e.g., Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Paramount+, Peacock, Apple TV) - 37%
- Traditional cable TV/satellite - 24%
- Live TV streaming (e.g., YouTube TV, Fubo TV) - 18%
- YouTube - 15%
- Social media platforms (e.g., TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat) - 6%
(Source: CivicScience, "The 2026 TV Audience," April 2026)
- 29.9% of daily audio time among those age 18+ in the U.S. is spent listening on an internet-connected TV or TV device.
(Source: Edison Research, "Share of Ear," Q4 2025)
- 72% of consumers agree that the members of their household use streaming as a form of quality time.
(Source: Tubi, The Stream 2025)
- 80% of viewers say they'd rather spend their time watching a TV show or movie than scrolling on social media.
(Source: Tubi, The Stream 2025)
- 44% of viewers say that they watch TV shows & movies intentionally, with no distraction.
(Source: Tubi, The Stream 2025)
- 57% of viewers say they stream 1-3 hours of TV and movies in one sitting.
(Source: Tubi, The Stream 2025)
- 82% of Gen Zers say they browse streaming services to discover older content.
(Source: Tubi, The Stream 2025)
- 76% of Gen Z viewers already have or would eventually end their streaming subscription over increased prices.
(Source: Tubi, The Stream 2025)
- 79% of consumers say that if they are paying for a streaming service, they expect no ads.
(Source: Tubi, The Stream 2025)
- 19% of Americans access live TV channels via an antenna.
(Source: Horowitz Research, State of Media, Entertainment and Tech: Subscriptions 2025)
- Gen Z viewers agree with the following:
- Most ads miss the mark - 81%
- The ads they see on streaming seem misaligned with their personal preferences - 73%
- Ads significantly abrupt their streaming experience - 46%
(Source: Tubi, The Stream 2025)
- Percentage of consumers who have cut the cord on their cable/satellite TV and moved to streaming-only services (yearly percentages):
- General population - 64%
- 18-29 - 77%
- 45+ - 54%
(Source: CivicScience, "6 Key Consumer-Declared Streaming Insights From Gen Z in 2026," January 2026)
- How many times do general population consumers sign up for a video streaming service to watch something, then paused/canceled the subscription afterward? (Gen Z consumers versus gen pop)
- I use video streaming services, but I've never done this - 21% versus 41%
- 1-2 times - 27% versus 28%
- 3-4 times - 34% versus 20%
- 5+ times - 19% versus 11%
(Source: CivicScience, "6 Key Consumer-Declared Streaming Insights From Gen Z in 2026," January 2026)
- How many streaming service subscriptions do consumers have specifically to watch sports? (Gen Z consumers versus gen pop)
- 0 - 33% versus 56%
- 1 - 15% versus 15%
- 2 - 24% versus 14%
- 3+ - 27% versus 16%
(Source: CivicScience, "6 Key Consumer-Declared Streaming Insights From Gen Z in 2026," January 2026)
- Where Gen Z is most open to seeing ads:
- Streamng OTT/CTV - 83%
- Online video sites (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo) - 81%
- Social media (e.g., Instagram, TikTok) - 81%
- Browsing online - 80%
- Linear TV - 80%
- Gaming platforms - 77%
- Website/apps - 76%
- Search engines - 76%
- DOOH - 75%
- Podcasts - 75%
- Music streaming services - 74%
(Source: theTradeDesk, Instant Intelligence, February 2025)
- Distribution of total television and video usage in the U.S. in June 2026:
- Streaming - 48.5%
- Cable - 19.5%
- Broadcast - 19.8%
- Other - 12.3%
(Source: Nielsen, The Gauge, June 2026)
- Distribution of total streaming usage in the U.S. in June 2026:
- YouTube - 13.8%
- Netflix - 7.9%
- Disney (includes Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu) - 4.6%
- Prime Video - 4.2%
- Roku channel - 3.0%
- Peacock - 2.3%
- Paramount+ - 2.3%
- Tubi - 2.2%
- Warner Bros. Discovery - 1.4%
- Other streaming - 6.9%
(Source: Nielsen, The Gauge, June 2026) |
