Streaming video and CTV have been trending upward for years as the linear TV business has eroded. In 2025, these digital video channels reached inflection points in viewing share, viewing households, time spent, and content spending. These shifts in consumer behavior and capital investments are setting the stage for CTV ad spending to also leave its linear counterpart in the dust.

As the CTV market grows, it is heading toward convergence with retail media, at least on Amazon. The retail giant, which controls 80% of the US retail media market, is expanding its CTV footprint through partnerships with Netflix and Roku. The goal is to infuse CTV advertising with transactional and behavioral data to enhance targeting and measurement.

Key Question: What is driving CTV ad spending’s growth, as well as its displacement of linear TV advertising?

Key Stat: CTV ad spending in the US will near $46 billion in 2028 and surpass linear TV ad spending for the first time.