Converged TV Commands 38.5% of Daily Media Time
by Frankie Karrer
Abstract
- Converged TV, which combines CTV and traditional TV, will account for 38.5% of daily media time in 2026 at more than 5 hours a day.
- Advertisers will invest $15.27 billion in subscription OTT this year (a 27.8% jump over 2025), with another 15.9% increase expected next year.
- Linear TV and subscription streaming together capture more than a third of consumer media time, but only 13.5% of ad spending.
- Social networks will take 27.7% of US ad spending, about $134.15 billion, despite accounting for just 12.5% of adults’ media time.
- Mobile draws more than 55% of total media ad spending even though consumers spend only about a third of their media time on those devices.
Marketers will spend more than $485 billion on US advertising this year, but new EMARKETER data suggests some of that budget is chasing the wrong screens. Converged TV (CTV plus traditional TV) now commands 38.5% of daily media time, more than 5 hours a day, even as its ad share shrinks. Social networks run the other way, pulling in 27.7% of all ad spending at roughly $134.15 billion, for just 12.5% of adults’ media time.
For CTV advertisers, that gap reads as opportunity. Subscription OTT ad spend will reach $15.27 billion in 2026, up 27.8% year-over-year, but it still trails the attention consumers give the format by a wide margin. The old reasons for that lag are fading. Streaming now offers abundant inventory at falling prices, and ad-supported tiers have become standard across premium platforms. Social, meanwhile, has nearly flatlined on time spent while its ad share keeps climbing. Marketers who follow viewer attention to CTV will find a high-engagement channel that budgets have yet to catch up to.
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