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Capitalizing on CTV’s Growth With Smart Analytics
- Lisa Ciancarelli
- Feb 20
- 9 min read
Written by Lisa Ciancarelli for Infinitum and published on LinkedIn 2/19/26
Connected TV (CTV) has crossed an important line. It’s become the place where budgets are shifting, expectations are rising. More importantly, it is where competitive advantage is quietly moving toward advertisers and content owners who can measure what really works.
In this article, we’ll unpack what recent research says about CTV’s growth, why that matters for brands and content providers of all sizes, and how to think about measurement so you can learn and thrive as its spend accelerates.
The growth story: CTV isn’t a side bet anymore
Let’s start with the numbers.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s “2026 Outlook Study: U.S. Ad Spend to Rise 9.5%,” published January 27, 2026, highlights a striking detail: CTV is expected to grow 13.8% in the US this year, making it one of the fastest-growing channels in the mix, alongside social and commerce media. In a world where many marketers are still under pressure to defend every dollar, any channel growing faster than the overall market is sending a clear signal: money is following shifting viewer behavior and the expectation of better results.
Premion’s “CTV is Hitting an Inflection Point – What to Watch in 2026” (December 8, 2025) adds important context. Its work with Advertiser Perceptions shows that nearly seven in ten CTV advertisers plan to increase their CTV budgets, with an average rise of about 17%. Much of that budget is being reallocated from linear TV, display, search, and social. When so many marketers are willing to move money away from channels they’ve relied on for years, it suggests that, for many advertisers, CTV is moving beyond experimentation and toward a more central role in the media mix.[premion]
eMarketer’s “The Three Forces That Will Shape CTV’s 2026 Growth,” published January 11, 2026, helps explain why. The report points to three driving forces:[emarketer]
Viewers are spending more time in streaming environments.
Measurement and standardization are improving.
New ad formats are emerging that go beyond brand awareness and nudge viewers toward action.
Put simply: audiences are there, the tech is catching up, and CTV is increasingly able to support both brand and performance goals.
Why this wave matters for brands of every size
Big brands will always be early to follow audiences, but what’s different this time is accessibility. Historically, “TV” meant large upfront commitments, limited flexibility, and broad targeting. Now, with CTV platforms and programmatic buying, that barrier has been lowered—though not completely removed.
The Premion study indicates that budget increases aren’t limited to the largest advertisers; CTV is seeing adoption across a range of categories and spend levels. For many smaller and mid-sized brands, CTV is becoming a more practical, scalable option than traditional linear buys, even though it still requires thoughtful planning and investment. The appeal is clear:[premion]
You can buy against more precise audience segments instead of broad age–gender buckets.
You can test into CTV with smaller initial budgets and adjust faster than with traditional TV.
You can link campaigns to digital behaviors—site visits, app installs, or conversions—rather than stopping at gross rating points.
For niche content providers—streamers, FAST channels, or content providers—this shift means demand is no longer concentrated in a handful of broadcast networks. As buyers move more dollars into CTV, they need scalable, brand-safe inventory beyond the most familiar names. If you can demonstrate clear audience value and provide credible proof of performance, you can compete for budgets that previously felt out of reach.
The opportunity—and the hidden risk—behind the numbers
Strong growth numbers are encouraging, but they also create a risk: waste can scale alongside opportunity. If CTV budgets are growing 13.8% while overall spend rises 9.5%, it means many organizations are leaning in. Some have sophisticated measurement frameworks; others are still in earlier stages. Without a clear measurement plan, a few things can happen [streamtvinsider]:
CTV becomes a visible cost center rather than a proven growth driver.
Internal stakeholders—especially finance and senior leadership—see rising spend without equally clear evidence of incremental value.
In the next budget reset, CTV risks being cut back, even if it was performing well.
This is where the improved measurement landscape that eMarketer describes becomes both a benefit and a challenge. On one hand, tools like the following are becoming more readily available and robust:[emarketer]
Cross-screen reach and frequency,
Outcome-based metrics (conversions, leads, sales), and
More standardized definitions of impressions and viewability
On the other hand, having more data is not the same as having more clarity. Many advertisers now juggle platform dashboards, DSP reporting, third-party verification, and internal analytics. Without a coherent framework, “more measurement” can make it harder—not easier—to understand what is truly working.
What this looks like: three layers of CTV measurement
It helps to think about CTV measurement in three layers. This isn’t an industry standard, just a practical way to structure your approach.
1. Delivery and quality
This is the foundational layer: did your ads run where and how they were supposed to?
Consider asking:
Was the ad viewable and completed?
Did it run against the intended content categories and basic audience definitions?
Was frequency managed across content providers to avoid overexposure?
Most platforms can address these questions, and third-party verification tools help validate the results. This layer is necessary, but not sufficient. It tells you whether you delivered impressions as planned, not whether those impressions drove meaningful outcomes.
2. Engagement and behavior
At this layer, look beyond impressions to behavioral signals that link CTV exposure to online actions. For example:
Do exposed households or users visit your site or app at higher rates than comparable unexposed groups?
Does search volume or brand query volume lift in the days following exposure?
Do viewers engage with interactive elements such as QR codes, overlays, or companion units?
This is where the kind of capabilities behind Infinitum start to feel particularly relevant. While we’ll stay away from product-specific claims, the general principle is straightforward: connect streaming exposure data to downstream digital signals in a way that is timely, interpretable, and shareable across teams. When you can see that certain content providers, formats, or audience segments consistently drive stronger engagement, optimization becomes far more grounded.[Infinitum]
3. Incremental business impact
The third layer is where the most strategic value lies: what portion of your outcomes can you credibly attribute to CTV, beyond what would have happened anyway?
That means tackling questions like:
How many observed conversions would likely have occurred without the CTV campaign?
Are you reaching genuinely new or lapsed customers, or just increasing touchpoints with the same heavy users?
What is the incremental revenue, margin, or lifetime value associated with CTV exposure?
To answer these, marketers increasingly rely on methods such as geo-lift tests, experiments, and modern marketing mix modeling, often in combination with platform data and privacy-conscious environments like data clean rooms. Solutions that can ingest large volumes of streaming data, link them to first-party signals, and surface causal insights in an accessible way become highly valuable in this context.[Infinitum]
What “good” looks like in a CTV strategy today
Given the growth trajectory and the expectation shift, what does a well-run CTV program look like in 2026? Here are a few common markers:
CTV is planned, not bolted on CTV isn’t just leftover budget redirected from underperforming channels. It has clear objectives—whether awareness, consideration, or performance—and is integrated into the broader media plan. The IAB growth forecast suggests that many leading advertisers are treating CTV as a deliberate pillar, not an afterthought.
Measurement plans are defined up front Instead of running campaigns and scrambling afterward to prove impact, effective teams define measurement KPIs in advance: reach and frequency targets, behavioral lift expectations, and desired incremental business outcomes. Premion’s findings about budget shifts from other channels highlight how important that story becomes when you’re moving money away from familiar platforms.[premion]
Data connects across silos Fragmentation is a real challenge. A viewer might see your ad on a smart TV app, research on mobile, and convert on desktop or offline. The eMarketer report’s emphasis on improved measurement and standardization reflects an industry push to connect these touchpoints. Organizations that can join CTV exposure data to CRM, site, and app signals—while respecting privacy—are positioned to make more confident decisions.[emarketer]
Visual insights, not just raw data Complex measurement setups can overwhelm even experienced teams. Strong programs translate rich data into clear, visual narratives: which partners move the needle, which creative variants perform best, and how CTV contributes across the funnel. This is where tools like Infinitum come in—helping turn dense streaming and digital data into accessible, action-oriented views rather than another opaque report.[Infinitum]
A feedback loop between learnings and planning Finally, mature CTV programs treat measurement as a continuous process. Near real-time insights inform changes to creative, audience definitions, and partner mix while campaigns are live. That agility is critical in a fast-growing channel where norms and benchmarks are still evolving.
A simple example: how this plays out in practice
Consider a mid-sized US retailer that has relied heavily on paid search, social, and a modest linear TV buy. Facing rising acquisition costs and plateauing performance in core digital channels, the team decides to shift part of its budget into CTV—very much in line with the trends that IAB and Premion describe.[streamtvinsider]
Here’s how a thoughtful approach might unfold:
Phase 1: Entry and alignment The team starts by defining clear goals: increase aided brand awareness in priority markets, lift site traffic from new visitors, and test whether CTV can improve overall acquisition efficiency. Before any impressions run, they agree on how to measure success across the three layers: delivery quality, engagement and behavior, and incremental sales.
Phase 2: Data connection and visualisation As campaigns launch across selected CTV partners, exposure logs begin to flow. These are joined with site analytics, CRM data, and conversion events in a central environment. A solution like Infinitum provides visual dashboards that make this data usable—highlighting, for instance, that exposed households in certain markets are visiting the site at noticeably higher rates than comparable unexposed groups, and that one creative variant is performing particularly well among lapsed customers.[Infinitum]
Phase 3: Testing incrementality The retailer then runs structured tests in specific regions—holding out certain DMAs as control markets while maintaining CTV activity elsewhere. Over time, they compare sales trends between exposed and control areas, adjusting for other media touchpoints. The analysis indicates that CTV is driving measurable incremental revenue, especially among newer segments that had been harder to reach through other channels.
Phase 4: Scaling and refinement With this evidence in hand, the retailer reallocates more budget from underperforming digital placements into CTV, confident that the decision rests on more than surface-level metrics. Creative strategy and partner mix are refined using the insights generated along the way, and CTV becomes a more intentional part of the ongoing plan.
This scenario is simplified, but it illustrates what’s possible when CTV growth is matched with structured measurement. The findings from IAB, Premion, and eMarketer suggest that many advertisers are moving down a similar path, even if they’re at different stages of maturity.
What this means for content owners and platforms
For content providers, streamers, and CTV platforms, the same trends present both opportunity and scrutiny.
On the opportunity side, growing budgets and more sophisticated buying behavior mean increased demand for quality inventory, strong first-party data, and thoughtful packaging. On the scrutiny side, advertisers are asking more detailed questions, such as:
Can you demonstrate that your inventory contributes incremental outcomes relative to other CTV partners and channels?
Can you support campaign-level tests and provide exposure data that can be linked, in a privacy-safe way, to advertiser first-party signals?
Can your reporting plug into the advertiser’s broader measurement stack rather than sitting in isolation?
Content owners able to answer “yes” to these questions are more likely to capture disproportionate share as budgets grow. Those that cannot may find themselves competing more on price than on value.
Being able to export, integrate, and visualise performance data in ways that align with advertiser frameworks is becoming a meaningful differentiator. Platforms often address this need with tools and approaches similar to Infinitum—linking exposure and engagement data to outcomes and presenting that story in a way that brand and agency partners can easily act on.[Infinitum]
Bringing it together: a growth moment that rewards clarity
The core message is straightforward: CTV is growing faster than the broader ad market, and that momentum is driven by where audiences are spending time and by steady advances in targeting, formats, and measurement.
But growth alone doesn’t guarantee success. The organizations that will benefit most from this wave tend to share a few traits:
They treat CTV as a planned, strategic component of the media mix.
They invest in connecting streaming exposure data to digital behaviors and business outcomes.
They prioritize practices and tools that turn complex data into clear, shared understanding across marketing, analytics, and finance.
The recent work by IAB (“2026 Outlook Study: U.S. Ad Spend to Rise 9.5%,” Jan 27, 2026), Premion (“CTV is Hitting an Inflection Point – What to Watch in 2026,” Dec 8, 2025), and eMarketer (“The Three Forces That Will Shape CTV’s 2026 Growth,” Jan 11, 2026) collectively highlights both the scale of the opportunity and the need for disciplined measurement as CTV budgets rise.
Infinitum is designed to help close that gap. Developed by Mime Analytics, it helps broadcasters, platforms, and brands connect streamed video impressions to real online engagement and business results, using intuitive visualisations and near real-time performance insights to make complex data easier to act on. Instead of adding another isolated dashboard, it supports the three-layer measurement approach described above and helps make CTV performance more transparent inside your organisation.[Infinitum]
If you are a US-based brand, content provider, or platform looking to turn CTV’s growth from an interesting trend into a clear, defensible story of incremental value, exploring this kind of capability can be a practical next step.
To learn more or to see Infinitum in action, you can contact Lisa Ciancarelli at Lisa.Ciancarelli@mimeanalytics.com to learn more about Infinitum and schedule a short demo.
