How to Win Q4 2026: 4 Trends Shaping the Season

For advertisers, no quarter carries more weight than Q4, and 2026 is shaping up to be another strong one. EMARKETER predicts holiday spending will increase year-over-year (YoY), for retail as a whole and even more so for ecommerce. Q4 has always been competitive, but the holiday shopping landscape continues to shift in ways that make standing out harder than ever. Here’s what market research and MNTN advertiser data reveal about the trends shaping Q4 2026, and what they mean for your strategy.

Streaming Owns the Largest Share of TV Viewership and Q4 Is When It Matters Most

Streaming has cemented itself as the dominant way Americans watch television. As of April 2026, it commanded 47.6% of U.S. household TV viewing (more than broadcast and cable combined). That split holds in Q4 too, and it may matter more during the holiday season than any other time of year. In December 2025, streaming captured 47.5% of all TV viewing, while broadcast fell to 21.4% and cable dropped to 20.2%. And within the Q4 window, specific dates carry outsized weight. In 2025, streaming viewership was up 11% during Thanksgiving week and 19% during Christmas week, compared with average non-holiday weeks.

As Q4 streaming viewership hits new highs, MNTN advertiser performance data points in the same direction. Among MNTN advertisers who ran campaigns in both Q4 2024 and Q4 2025, key metrics improved YoY, some by significant margins:

• +448% Average Conversion Rate
• +121% Average Average Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
• +80% Average Visit Rate
• -10% Average Average Cost per Acquisition (CPA)

Mobile shopping’s rise isn’t just about convenience: ever-growing second screen usage is fueling it too. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. social network users are projected to be actively using a second screen while watching TV or streaming in 2026, a figure expected to reach 81.9% of the total U.S. population by 2027. And the shopping behavior that follows is measurable: 34% of U.S. TV viewers have purchased merchandise inspired by a show, and 31% have shopped for products tied to what they’re watching via QR codes or in-show links.

Second-screen usage is surging across all age groups, and this is particularly notable in Q4. In November 2025, 63% of consumers ages 18-24 and 61% of those ages 25-34 viewed videos on their phones while watching TV (up 2% and 1% since 2022, respectively). But the most notable growth came from older generations: 52% of consumers ages 45-54 and 35% ages 55-64 also use a second screen while streaming, an increase of 13% and 15% since 2022.

Travel Tuesday is Now One of Q4’s Most Valuable Moments for Travel Brands

Q4 marks the unofficial start of Wave Season, the travel industry’s peak booking period, when consumers are actively planning trips months in advance. BFCM has long been a strong window for travel brands, but in recent years a new moment has emerged in its wake: Travel Tuesday (the day after Cyber Monday).

Travel Tuesday now generates 3.5x more bookings than the average day, with searches for the event up more than 5x over a two-year period. Together, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Travel Tuesday have become what travel marketing agency Sojern refers to as a “perfect storm”: a concentrated window of urgency and deal volume covering flights, hotels, and packages. A “value-first traveler” mindset is reshaping how consumers engage with this shopping period. They’re still spending on travel, but choosing with precision, seeking packages, points, and experiences over premium-priced impulse bookings.

MNTN advertiser data supports the importance of Q4 and Travel Tuesday in particular. Among travel brands active in both Q4 2024 and Q4 2025, the following key metrics improved YoY:

• +133% Average Visit Rate
• +56% Average ROAS
• +49% Average Conversion Rate

On top of this, average CPA and CPV fell sharply. Within Q4, the week of Cyber Monday and Travel Tuesday was the strongest of the quarter across revenue, ROAS, and CPA. Travel Tuesday itself was the standout day of the entire BFCM window, driving the highest revenue, the lowest CPA, and an average order value (AOV) that was 147% higher than Black Friday.

The implications of these findings extend beyond travel brands. Elevated purchase intent that builds through BFCM doesn’t switch off after Cyber Monday. Instead, it carries into the days that follow, and beyond. For advertisers in industries that can have longer purchase cycles (e.g. financial services, automotive, education, health, technology) the BFCM window is an opportunity to reach consumers who are already primed. Just as travel brands use Travel Tuesday to lock in bookings for trips months away, brands in other industries can use Q4 to plant intent that converts well into the new year.

Video Game Spending Is Approaching All-Time Highs, and Q4 Is Make-or-Break

U.S. consumer spending on video games reached $60.7 billion in 2025 (the second-highest on record) and 2026 has the potential to reach a new all-time high. Q4 is a key piece to this, as 45% of single-player games drop between mid-August and mid-November. This year, that includes the highly anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto VI on November 19th, which is expected to drive a significant spike in sales.

The biggest structural shift in gaming right now is where spending happens. Physical game sales hit a 30-year low of $1.5 billion in 2025, even as total spending grew, driven by digital downloads, cloud gaming, and subscriptions. Subscription spending increased by 20% in 2025, making it the single largest growth driver in the industry. This shift has real implications for how gaming audiences are reached: as consumers move away from physical retail and toward digital-based access (which will only accelerate in light of Sony’s decision to end physical disc production by early 2028) TV video content has become one of the most effective ways to connect with them. Gaming audiences aren’t just playing, they’re watching movies, sports, and shows like everyone else, making Q4’s record streaming environment a prime opportunity for gaming advertisers.

For non-gaming brands, the subscription trend is a signal worth watching. Consumers are increasingly comfortable giving and receiving digital products as opposed to physical ones. For brands outside of gaming, Q4 is a prime window to position subscription offerings as gifts or purposeful new-year investments.

‘Tis the Season to Get Your Q4 Strategy Set

Q4 2026 is set up to be one of the most opportunity-rich on record. Streaming reach is at an all-time high, and mobile has permanently shifted how consumers shop during the holidays. Meanwhile, moments like Travel Tuesday and major gaming releases are concentrating purchase intent in specific windows that produce powerful performance. Brands that understand where that intent lives (and show up there consistently) will be the ones that make the most of it. For advertisers looking to reach engaged, high-intent holiday audiences across all of these moments, Connected TV (CTV) is uniquely positioned to deliver.