CTV Report
Performance TV Is Expected To Lead Media Budgets in 2026
by Frankie Karrer
Abstract
- Performance TV and social media are tied as the most trusted channels, each earning 25% of marketer confidence for effectiveness.
- Looking ahead, Performance TV is expected to lead media budgets in 2026, with 24% of marketers planning to prioritize spend there.
- 67% of marketers say Performance TV helped drive revenue and growth in 2025, and 90% expect that to continue in 2026.
- Transparency remains the biggest hurdle: 56% of marketers say limited visibility in reporting puts Performance TV success at risk.
Marketers now rank Performance TV alongside social media as the most effective channel, with both earning 25% of marketer confidence. According to a new survey, that momentum is translating directly into budgets: more marketers plan to put their dollars behind Performance TV in 2026 than any other channel. And the results back it up. Two-thirds of marketers say Performance TV helped them hit revenue and growth goals in 2025, with expectations climbing even higher for the year ahead. Why the confidence? Nearly half (49%) say access to attentive, engaged viewers is a key advantage, 45% cite scalability across audiences as well as platforms, and 40% highlight precise audience targeting. In other words, Performance TV doesn’t just extend reach — it delivers the right audience, at scale, with measurable impact.
But even with growth accelerating, key challenges remain. Transparency and measurement remain the biggest barriers holding CTV back from its full potential. More than half of marketers cite limited reporting visibility as a top risk, while inconsistent measurement standards and disconnected tools continue to muddy ROAS. Ultimately, marketers who choose Performance TV platforms built for transparency, cross-channel measurement, and incrementality testing will be best positioned to turn CTV advertising performance into provable business impact.
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