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June 1, 2026
TV and Sub OTT Take the Largest Shares of Time, but Social Networks Draw Far More Ad Spending
Note
Time spent with each medium includes multitasking; for example, 1 hour of multitasking on a mobile phone while watching TV is counted as 1 hour for mobile phone and 1 hour for TV. Figures are rounded to the nearest minute. Estimates of average time spent with media are based on the total US adult ... population according to the US Census Bureau 2020 release, not the number of users of each medium. Digital audio includes music/other audio content delivered within a website or app (e.g., AM/FM online streams), podcasts (streamed or downloaded), online radio stations, and streaming services. It excludes other downloaded audio files (e.g., music MP3s) and digital terrestrial/satellite radio services that are delivered over the air. Digital gaming includes desktop/mobile app and browser gaming, online console gaming, and gaming on portable internet-connected consoles. Digital audio ad spending includes digital advertising revenues for local and national broadcast radio stations, satellite radio services, purely online radio stations, and streaming music services such as Pandora and Spotify, including podcast advertising and sponsorship. It includes both audio and nonaudio ad formats. Radio ad spending includes local and national broadcast of traditional on-air radio stations and satellite radio services that are delivered over the air and excludes off-air radio and digital. Digital ad revenues include banner ads and other (static display ads such as Facebook's Feed Ads and X's Promoted Posts), classified ads, email (embedded ads only), rich media (including in-stream and outstream video ads), search ads (including contextual text links, paid inclusion, and paid listings, and excluding display-oriented formats on social networks, even if triggered by search queries), sponsorships, and lead generation (referrals). Mobile messaging (SMS, MMS, and P2P messaging) is excluded. Social networks are sites where the primary activities involve creating a profile and interacting with a network of contacts by sharing updates, comments, photos, or other content.Methodology
Estimates are based on the analysis of various elements related to the ad spending market, including macro-level economic conditions, historical trends of the advertising market, historical trends of each medium in relation to other media, reported revenues of major ad publishers, estimates from other research firms, data from benchmark sources, consumer media consumption trends, consumer device usage trends, and EMARKETER interviews with executives at ad agencies, brands, media publishers, and other industry leaders.Featured In
US Ad Spending vs. Time Spent 2026Sources
Chart Title
TV and Sub OTT Take the Largest Shares of Time, but Social Networks Draw Far More Ad SpendingPublication Date
June 1, 2026