Advertisers Boosting Spending on Connected TV, New Study Finds

If the way to figure out what’s going on is to follow the money, the story in the television business continues to be the shift to streaming and connected TV.

The latest example is a new survey released by Advertiser Perceptions and Premion showing more money going into CTV.

According to the study, 70% of CTV advertisers said they plan to increase CTV spending in 2026. The average magnitude of the increase is 17%.

Premion says the survey shows that advertisers have greater confidence that CTV can drive measurable outcomes, making it an increasingly important part of their video strategies.

The reason for the increased spending on CTV? 44% said it was CTV’s ability to reach highly engaged opt-in audiences, and 40% said it was the ability to combine TV’s branding power with digital precision.

The incremental ad dollars for CTV were coming from overall ad growth, according to 25% of those surveyed, while the rest said they were coming from other channels, including linear TV, digital display, paid search and social media.

“CTV has proven its ability to drive real business outcomes at scale,” said Tim Fagan, senior VP, chief revenue officer at Tegna, Premion’s parent company. “Advertisers are doubling down because CTV consistently delivers what matters most: engaged audiences, measurable performance and full-funnel impact — and it works most powerfully when integrated alongside linear and broader video strategies.”

A majority of advertisers in the study said that they get the best full-funnel results when they combine CTV and linear TV. About 80% said that the combo has a greater impact when it comes to increasing brand awareness, reaching viewers across the TV landscape, generating return on investment and improving ad recall.

An even larger number of advertisers said that integrated campaigns perform from awareness to conversion.

Among advertisers that employ premium CTV inventory in their campaigns, 97% agreed that advertising in premium video content can improve ROI performance goals, including brand favorability and positive brand associations.

More than 40% of CTV advertisers agree that CTV will play a growing role in digital-first buying within total video strategies.

The advertisers said about 50% of CTV and other OTT advertising is expected to be bought using programmatic technology.

The growth of CTV has been slowed by issues with measurement, transparency, invalid traffic and fraud.

Advertisers expect artificial intelligence to make CTV more effective, some as soon as this year. AI is expected to enable real-time optimization of CTV and improve frequency controls. But only about one-third of those surveyed believed better frequency controls will be available this year.

“As we move into 2026, advertisers are sharpening their expectations for what CTV should deliver. They want simpler activation, smarter technology, better frequency control and clearer measurement — along with partners that can help them turn premium video into real business results,” said Fagan.

Premion commissioned Advertiser Perceptions to conduct this advertiser study. Advertiser Perceptions executed an anonymous online survey among 151 ad agency or brand-side marketers involved in decision-making for CTV/OTT advertising in the U.S. during October 2025. To be included in the survey, the advertisers and agency executives had to spend $250,000 annually on advertising.