Thousands of layoffs could alter content investment, audience engagement, and advertising value.

Digital habits are converging across generations, but how consumers engage still varies by age. Video brings audiences together, while uneven AI adoption, shopping behaviors, and shifting priorities create new challenges for brands.

Digital video is a mainstream habit in the UK, but viewing is fragmented across an expanding range of services. As the lines between TV, streaming, and social video blur, marketers face a more complex battle for audience attention.

Free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services are attracting more viewers, but advertising growth isn't keeping pace. Low ad prices appeal to brands, but heavy ad loads and inconsistent reporting raise questions about performance.

YouTube is converging social media, streaming TV, digital audio, and product discovery in one platform. But how audiences use it depends on who is watching.​

Vertical video has moved from social-feed novelty to full-funnel engagement infrastructure for streaming services and social commerce platforms. Vertical video's expansion beyond social feeds into streaming apps and shoppable commerce has made it a standard format in the competition for attention. That opportunity also brings considerable challenges.

Asia-Pacific remains the world's largest subscription OTT market by viewers, but countries are divided into three camps: emerging markets, developed ones still building audiences, and mature ones focused on profitability and content quality.

Costlier ad-free plans make bundles and ads more attractive, giving marketers more ways to reach churn-prone viewers.

Bite-sized news could attract younger audiences while creating fresh ad inventory, including local placements.

Millennials are entering their peak earning years with deep digital fluency, but adulthood is changing their habits. AI is becoming a practical tool, digital fatigue is reshaping social media use, and family life is influencing media and shopping.

Higher streaming bills could fuel churn, making ad tiers, sponsorships, and product placements more valuable.

This benchmark covers how ad buyers can calibrate their TV and CTV ad spending and budget allocations against the market, and how publishers and solution providers can assess whether their ad revenues align with industry trends.​

Where Americans spend their time and where advertisers spend their money have come apart, and social media is the widest gap. Social platforms, particularly Meta, capture a disproportionate share of the nearly $500 billion US advertising market. "Over the last 12 months, we've seen a flurry of [media advertising] activity from outside the retail sector," said our analyst Ethan Cramer-Flood on a recent episode of "Behind the Numbers."

Paid streaming has become a global habit, but the easy growth is over. This report explores which markets will drive the next wave of viewers, and how the major international and local platforms are jostling for audience share.

Last November, we identified 11 trends we expected to shape the business landscape in 2026. Our Trends 2026 update reveals where expectations are holding, where surprises have emerged, and what businesses should watch through year-end.

Disney+ and Hulu add iHeartMedia video podcasts: The deal could give marketers premium inventory with audiences primed to act on ads.

Disney turns streaming into an ad engine: FYQ3 results show SVOD, sports, and parks combining to keep advertisers invested despite broader subscription churn.

YouTube is becoming TV. As its viewing shifts to TV screens and ad budgets blur across channels, marketers need to rethink where TV ends and digital video begins.

Disney revamps its streaming app: Better recommendations and a super app could boost first-party data and make Disney+ more attractive to advertisers.