Ad-supported streaming now reaches 210 million U.S. viewers, VAB report finds

The Video Promoting Bureau launched its twelfth annual streaming evaluation in March 2026, presenting 26 information factors that map the state of ad-supported streaming in the US. The report, titled “Rising Tides: 26 Streaming Insights That Are Impacting Marketing Plans in 2026,” attracts on analysis from eMarketer, MRI-Simmons, Inscape, Antenna, Comscore, and different third-party sources. It lands as promoting upfront season begins – a interval when billions of {dollars} in commitments are made months upfront of broadcast.

The headline quantity is 209.4 million. That’s eMarketer’s estimate for the variety of U.S. customers utilizing ad-supported video on demand providers in 2026, in accordance with the report. In 2023 the determine stood at 164.4 million. The rise represents a 27% acquire over three years, and the trajectory reveals no signal of plateauing – the identical eMarketer dataset initiatives 216.3 million AVOD viewers by 2027, equal to 63% of the U.S. inhabitants.

The structural shift in tv households

Underlying that viewers development is a change in how American properties obtain tv. For the primary time in 2026, non-pay-TV households outnumber pay-TV households in the US. In line with eMarketer information cited within the VAB report, non-pay-TV properties reached 70.8 million – or 53% of all households – towards 63.4 million pay-TV properties. Two years earlier, in 2024, pay-TV held a 53-to-47 lead. The inversion occurred in 2025 when each teams sat at precisely 66.6 million.

The population-level information is confirmed by survey outcomes. MRI-Simmons’ March 2026 Wire Evolution Examine, which VAB analyzed, discovered that 59% of U.S. adults 18 and over now take into account themselves “cordless.” Inside that group, wire cutters – those that cancelled a pay-TV subscription – account for 34 proportion factors. Wire nevers, those that by no means subscribed in any respect, make up the remaining 25 factors. PPC Land has tracked the linear TV decline through the QVC and HSN story, the place conventional pay-TV audiences have contracted dramatically.

How customers now take into consideration “TV”

The definition of tv is itself shifting, although extra slowly than the distribution information would possibly counsel. In line with VAB’s evaluation of MRI-Simmons information, 48% of U.S. adults 18 and over outlined “TV” in March 2026 as something watchable on a TV set – whether or not through streaming, cable, satellite tv for pc, or fiber optic. That determine is unchanged from March 2025 for the general grownup inhabitants. Among the many 18-34 cohort, nevertheless, the set-based definition elevated from 33% to 38% over the identical twelve months, whereas the share defining TV as something watchable on any system held regular at 38%. Youthful adults are converging, in different phrases, towards a television-as-device conception reasonably than a television-as-content-anywhere mannequin.

Sensible TV {hardware} is driving that notion. In line with S&P International Market Intelligence Kagan estimates compiled in October 2025, the U.S. sensible TV put in base stood at 250.2 million items in 2025 and is projected to achieve 287.8 million by 2029. Sensible TVs now characterize 72% of the whole TV set put in base in 2025, up from 64% in 2023 and 45% in 2017. The typical variety of sensible TVs per family rose from 1.7 in 2015 to 2.4 in 2025. By 2029, that determine is projected to achieve 2.5. Nielsen’s 2026 upfront guide reinforces the sensible TV’s centrality, noting streaming accounts for 66.7% of all time spent with ad-supported TV amongst adults 18-49.

The place the streaming really occurs

The system via which viewers entry content material has modified considerably. In line with Hub Leisure’s “Decoding The Default” research printed in August 2025, sensible TV built-in apps have been the default system for watching TV content material for 30% of viewers in 2025, up from simply 10% in 2020. Over the identical interval, the MVPD set-top field fell from 47% to twenty-eight% as the first entry level. Streaming media gamers – Roku, Hearth TV, Apple TV – edged barely decrease from 17% to 16%. The mixed share of TV-based viewing (sensible TV apps, MVPD set-top bins, and streaming media gamers) held basically fixed at 74% throughout each years, which means the shift is inside to TV reasonably than a flight towards cellular or laptop computer screens.

Inscape’s TV Market Traits Report for Q3 2025 provides a panel-level precision to this image. Streaming is now accessed on 85% of all TVs measured in Inscape’s nationally consultant panel – up from 83% in Q3 2024. Extra considerably, 36% of TVs in Q3 2025 obtained solely streaming content material with no cable, satellite tv for pc, or OTA complement. That share was 33% in Q3 and This autumn of 2024.

Session lengths on CTV platforms fluctuate extensively by app kind. In line with a VAB and TVision customized research measuring July 2024 via June 2025, digital MVPD apps averaged session lengths of 1 hour and 26 minutes per session. FAST apps adopted at 1 hour and 24 minutes. Hybrid SVOD/AVOD platforms averaged 1 hour and 11 minutes, whereas pure SVOD apps averaged precisely 1 hour. YouTube classes on CTV averaged simply 52 minutes. The hole between the longest and shortest session sorts is 34 minutes – an operationally important determine for advert frequency planning. PPC Land has previously examined how this attention differential matters for buyers choosing between premium video and YouTube inventory.

Streaming app habits: routine however not sprawling

Client utilization of particular person providers has stabilized after a peak in 2023. MRI-Simmons information reveals that the typical variety of streaming providers used previously 12 months fell from 13 in 2023 to 11 in each 2024 and 2025. That consolidation has not, nevertheless, narrowed the AVOD market’s general attain. Inscape panel information monitoring the typical variety of apps used month-to-month per streaming TV system confirmed a spread of three.5 to three.8 throughout the April 2024 to September 2025 interval, with a seasonal peak of three.8 through the November-January interval. The sample is constant: viewers cycle via three to 4 providers on any given system in any given month, with a slight uptick in colder months.

Regardless of the consolidation in complete providers used yearly, 80% of U.S. adults nonetheless used three or extra streaming providers previously 12 months, in accordance with MRI-Simmons information from January 2026.

The ad-supported tier turns into the bulk

The composition of streaming subscriptions has flipped. Antenna’s “State of Subscriptions: Provides and Adverts” report from Might 2025 tracked premium SVOD plan tier distribution throughout providers together with Discovery+, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Paramount+, and Peacock. In 2023, 67% of subscriptions have been ad-free and 33% have been ad-supported. By 2025, ad-supported tiers accounted for 46% of all subscriptions – a 39% improve and a 13 proportion level swing in two years. Advert-free subscriptions now characterize a naked majority at 54%.

The bundling dimension provides an extra layer. Antenna’s “State of Subscriptions: Premium SVOD – 2025 12 months in Evaluation,” launched in February 2026, discovered that 27% of premium SVOD subscriptions in This autumn 2025 have been bundled with a minimum of one different service – up from 14% in This autumn 2023, representing a 52% improve. In absolute phrases, bundled subscriptions stood at 71 million in This autumn 2025 towards 194 million non-bundled subscriptions.

Client choice information aligns with these behavioral patterns. In line with VAB’s evaluation of the MRI-Simmons March 2026 Wire Evolution Examine, 68% of adults 18-24 agreed they like streaming free video content material with adverts reasonably than paying for a subscription with out adverts – up from 60% in March 2025. The shift was even sharper within the 25-34 cohort, rising from 60% to 70%. Adults 35 and over moved from 68% to 69%. Hub Leisure’s December 2025 “TV Promoting: Truth vs Fiction” research discovered that 68% of viewers would select watching adverts if it saved $4-5 per thirty days, in comparison with 60% in December 2021. Netflix’s ad tier trajectory has been well-documented, with the platform focusing on double its promoting income in 2025 following its proprietary advert tech rollout.

Residence display promoting and FAST development

The advert publicity level has moved earlier within the viewing session. In line with ESHAP Media’s “Battle and Peace: The 2026 Agenda” printed January 5, 2026, 95% of U.S. CTVs now show promoting on the house display when the TV is turned on – earlier than the viewer has navigated to any content material. In 2020 that determine was 50%. Residence display promoting has successfully develop into the default opening impression of the tv expertise.

FAST channels – free ad-supported streaming TV – have expanded sharply alongside this development. VAB’s personal October 2025 evaluation, “Free For All: Understanding the Progress of FAST Via Three Key Questions,” discovered a 57% improve within the variety of FAST channels between 2023 and 2025, a 19% improve in FAST viewers between 2022 and 2025, a 54% improve in time spent with FAST over the identical interval, and a 25% improve in common channel session period in comparison with 2024. FAST channels have also reached meaningful scale in Europe, the place ShowHeroes analysis discovered 27% common month-to-month attain throughout 5 main markets.

Advert time distribution and spending trajectories

Streaming’s share of complete nationwide advert time is rising incrementally however measurably. Comscore’s “Scoreboard” report from February 2026 tracked rolling four-week durations from September via December 2025. In September 2025, streaming’s share of nationwide advert time throughout its 50 measured networks stood at 16%. By December 2025 it reached 18%, a 2 proportion level improve throughout a single quarter. Broadcast held 47% in December, down from 48% in November. Cable fell from 39% in September to 35% in December. The vacation interval systematically lifts streaming’s advert time share.

The longer-run spending trajectory is extra pronounced. eMarketer’s December 2025 projections for U.S. TV and CTV advert spending present CTV transferring from $20.0 billion (23% of complete TV advert spend) in 2022 to $38.0 billion (43%) in 2026 and a projected $47.6 billion (53%) by 2028. Conventional TV spend is projected to contract from $66.6 billion in 2022 to $43.1 billion in 2028. Whole TV advert spend – the sum of each – stays practically flat throughout the interval, transferring from $86.6 billion in 2022 to $90.7 billion in 2028, suggesting the trade is present process a distribution shift reasonably than general contraction. IAB Tech Lab’s December 2025 CTV ad format standardization effort displays the infrastructure work required to help this spending shift at scale.

One of many fastest-growing parts of CTV promoting is retail media. eMarketer’s December 2025 estimates for U.S. retail media CTV advert spending venture development from $4.5 billion in 2025 to $6.0 billion in 2026, $7.3 billion in 2027, $8.3 billion in 2028, and $9.0 billion in 2029 – successfully doubling over 5 years. The convergence of retail information with CTV stock is documented in a rising physique of platform exercise. PPC Land has reported on how retail media and CTV are converging technically and commercially, with retail media spend on CTV projected to develop 3 times quicker than retail media search.

Content material: sports activities and information speed up

The content material drivers behind streaming development are shifting. Motion pictures stay the highest cause customers use or subscribe to a streaming service, cited by 55% of streamers within the March 2026 MRI-Simmons survey. However that determine declined from 61% in March 2025. Acquired content material fell from 52% to 49%, and unique collection unique to the service dropped from 52% to 46%. Sports activities, in contrast, rose from 31% to 36% – a 5 proportion level improve. Nationwide information moved from 12% to 14%.

Reside sports activities streaming is gaining viewers breadth. Amongst streaming sports activities viewers, the NFL remained the most-streamed league, with 76% having streamed NFL content material stay within the 12 months earlier than the March 2026 research, up from 72% in March 2024. NBA viewership on streaming rose from 33% to 41%, MLB from 35% to 41%, NCAA Basketball from 19% to 23%, and WNBA from 9% to 14%. Sixty p.c of all streamers say they wish to stream stay sports activities, whereas 40% had achieved so previously month. CTV app distribution for sports activities has broadened accordingly, with common SVOD apps used for sports activities streaming by 68% of sports activities streamers in 2025, up from 61% in 2024, in accordance with LG Advert Options’ “Stadium to Display” report.

Multicultural audiences and co-viewing

Multicultural audiences now account for 55% of grownup 18-34 streamers, up from 49% in March 2025, in accordance with VAB’s evaluation of MRI-Simmons information. Amongst all adults 18+, the multicultural share of the streaming inhabitants rose from 39% to 42% between March 2025 and March 2026 – barely above the 40% multicultural share of the whole grownup inhabitants.

Streaming can also be functioning as a communal exercise. Tubi’s “The Stream 2026: When Intention Turns into Consideration,” launched in March 2026, discovered that 75% of streaming adults mentioned family members use streaming collectively as a type of high quality time – a 4% year-over-year improve. Extra strikingly, 52% mentioned they’re watching with individuals they don’t stay with, corresponding to visiting a good friend’s residence – a 15% year-over-year improve.

The co-viewing differential between platform sorts is measurable. A VAB and TVision customized research measuring July 2024 via June 2025 discovered that co-viewing – outlined as the share of complete impressions occurring with one other viewer within the room – stood at 60% for premium video platforms and 45% for YouTube. That may be a 33% co-viewing benefit for premium video. PPC Land has examined what this means for CTV advertisers, the place attention-based focusing on and shared-screen dynamics work together in methods not captured by customary impression metrics.

The VAB information makes a number of structural information legible concurrently. First, the AVOD viewers has crossed a scale threshold – 209.4 million individuals, or 62% of the U.S. inhabitants, offers ad-supported streaming a attain corresponding to linear tv at its business peak. Second, the ad-preference shift is consumer-driven, not simply platform-driven: majorities throughout all grownup age teams now want free streaming with adverts over paid ad-free options when a $4-5 month-to-month saving is on the desk. Third, the CTV spending trajectory factors towards parity with conventional TV inside two to 3 years, however the measurement and focusing on infrastructure continues to be maturing.

CTV’s measurement challenges remain active, with trade evaluation estimating roughly $1 billion in annual waste from impressions delivered to screens which can be off. The conversion gap is also a live issue, with IAB Europe’s CTV Working Group discovering that cross-device attribution gaps and fragmented identifiers nonetheless block CTV’s full transition to a efficiency channel. International content material spend by streaming providers reached 40% of the whole in 2026 – $101 billion towards $154 billion for all different media – in accordance with Ampere Evaluation information from January 2026.

The VAB report arrives as advertisers are making upfront commitments for the approaching broadcast yr. The 26 information factors it assembles are drawn from greater than a dozen third-party sources spanning client surveys, panel information, subscription databases, and advert spend forecasts.

Timeline

• 2015 – Sensible TV put in base within the U.S. stands at 89.1 million items, representing 45% of TV households and 25% of complete TV units; common sensible TVs per family: 1.7 (S&P International Market Intelligence Kagan)
• 2017 – Sensible TV put in base reaches 128.1 million; 55% of TV households; 36% of complete TV units; 1.9 per family
• 2019 – Sensible TV put in base reaches 159.4 million; 63% of TV households; 45% of complete TV units; 2.0 per family
• 2021 – Sensible TV put in base reaches 195.5 million; 74% of TV households; 56% of complete TV units; 2.1 per family
• November 2022 – Netflix launches its ad-supported tier (PPC Land)
• 2022 – U.S. CTV advert spend stands at $20.0 billion, representing 23% of complete TV advert spend; conventional TV holds $66.6 billion (77%) (eMarketer)
• 2023 – AVOD viewers within the U.S. complete 164.4 million, representing 49% of the inhabitants (eMarketer); streaming providers account for 33% of world content material spend (Ampere Evaluation)
• This autumn 2023 – 86% of premium SVOD subscriptions are non-bundled; ad-free subscriptions characterize 67% of the market (Antenna)
• 2023 – Common variety of streaming providers used yearly per client peaks at 13 (MRI-Simmons)
• January 2024 – Amazon defaults all Prime Video subscriptions to incorporate commercials (PPC Land)
• 2024 – Pay-TV and non-pay-TV households attain parity at 66.6 million every (eMarketer); sensible TV put in base reaches 222.6 million; AVOD viewers attain 185.5 million (55% of U.S. inhabitants)
• Q3 2024 – Streaming accessed on 83% of all measured TVs; 33% obtain solely streaming content material (Inscape)
• This autumn 2024 – Bundled SVOD subscriptions attain 19% of complete (Antenna); ad-supported tiers at 39% of premium SVOD subscriptions
• Might 2025 – Antenna’s “State of Subscriptions: Provides and Adverts” finds ad-supported tiers at 46% of premium SVOD subscriptions
• July 2025 – Criteo and WPP Media launch commerce-driven CTV activation (PPC Land)
• August 2025 – Hub Leisure’s “Decoding The Default” finds sensible TV built-in apps utilized by 30% as default TV system, up from 10% in 2020; VAB and TVision customized research (July 2024 – June 2025) finds co-viewing 33% stronger on premium video platforms than YouTube
• October 2025 – VAB publishes FAST evaluation discovering 57% development in FAST channels since 2023 and 54% development in time spent with FAST since 2022
• November 2025 – IAB Europe paperwork retail media and CTV convergence (PPC Land); Go Addressable survey finds 43% of main U.S. advertisers plan CTV spending will increase in 2026 (PPC Land)
• December 2025 – IAB Tech Lab publishes CTV advert format requirements for public remark (PPC Land); eMarketer initiatives U.S. retail media CTV advert spend at $4.5 billion for 2025
• January 5, 2026 – ESHAP Media publishes “Battle and Peace: The 2026 Agenda,” documenting 95% share of CTVs with residence display promoting
• January 2026 – Netflix launches proprietary advert platform within the U.S. (PPC Land); AVOD viewers in 2026 projected at 209.4 million (62% of U.S. inhabitants)
• February 2026 – Antenna releases “State of Subscriptions: Premium SVOD – 2025 12 months in Evaluation,” discovering 27% of subscriptions bundled, up from 14% in This autumn 2023; eMarketer publishes AVOD viewer forecast; Hub Leisure’s December 2025 research finds 68% of viewers want ad-supported streaming if it saves $4-5 month-to-month
• March 11, 2026 – OpenX and TVision launch pre-bid consideration focusing on for CTV (PPC Land); IAB Europe’s CTV Working Group publishes attribution evaluation (PPC Land)
• March 12, 2026 – Nielsen publishes 2026 Upfront Planning Information, discovering streaming accounts for 66.7% of grownup 18-49 ad-supported TV time (PPC Land)
• March 31, 2026 – Mediaocean proclaims Prisma Direct, automating CTV direct advert shopping for with Disney as first accomplice (PPC Land)
• March 2026 – VAB publishes “Rising Tides: 26 Streaming Insights That Are Impacting Advertising and marketing Plans in 2026,” its twelfth annual streaming evaluation

Abstract

Who: The Video Promoting Bureau (VAB), headquartered at 220 East forty second Road, New York, NY 10017, produced the report. Analysis contributors embrace eMarketer, MRI-Simmons, Inscape, Antenna, Comscore, Ampere Evaluation, Hub Leisure, Tubi, LG Advert Options, and ESHAP Media, amongst others.

What: VAB’s “Rising Tides: 26 Streaming Insights That Are Impacting Advertising and marketing Plans in 2026” is a 36-page information report organized throughout 4 sections – viewers definitions and cord-cutting, system and platform habits, the expansion of ad-supported streaming, and content material high quality and stay sports activities. The report paperwork 209.4 million U.S. AVOD viewers in 2026, the inversion of pay-TV and non-pay-TV households, a 46% ad-supported share of premium SVOD subscriptions, a 95% share of CTVs displaying residence display promoting, and a projected CTV advert spend of $38.0 billion in 2026.

When: The report is dated March 2026. VAB distributed it to subscribers on March 31, 2026.

The place: The evaluation covers the US market except in any other case specified. International content material spend information from Ampere Evaluation is famous as worldwide. FAST development information from VAB’s October 2025 evaluation is U.S.-focused.

Why: The report is printed in time for the U.S. tv upfront season, when promoting budgets for the approaching broadcast yr are dedicated. VAB positions the information as proof that ad-supported streaming has reached a scale, choice, and behavioral depth that warrants important promoting funding – and that viewers, system, content material, and spending indicators throughout 2025 and into 2026 persistently level in the identical path.