The Video Advertising Bureau published its June 2026 multiplatform video consumption report this month, drawing on data from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan, eMarketer, Freewheel, Comcast Advertising, MRI-Simmons, Samsung, DISQO, and tvScientific to present a detailed picture of how American households watch video and how advertising reaches them across devices.

The Video Advertising Bureau this month released "Left to Your Own Devices," the June 2026 edition of its recurring multiplatform video report, compiling device ownership, content consumption, and cross-device engagement data from more than a dozen research sources. The report documents a US television landscape where connected TV now commands the majority of daily digital video time, smartphones remain near-universal fixtures, and the average household watches across 26 cable networks while increasingly defaulting to smart TV apps as the entry point for content.

Smart TV penetration and the 250 million threshold

The installed base of smart TVs in the US reached 250.2 million units in 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan estimates compiled in October 2025 and cited by the VAB. That figure represents a compound annual growth rate of 9.0% since 2015, when the installed base stood at 89.1 million units. The trajectory shows no flattening: projections put the figure at 270.6 million by 2027 and 287.8 million by 2029.

Smart TVs now make up 72% of the total TV set installed base in 2025, rising to a projected 85% by 2029. The proportion of TV households with at least one smart TV reached 79% in 2025. According to VAB's analysis of MRI-Simmons Winter 2026 USA study data, 97% of US households own any television. Among those households, 82% have a smart TV, 86% have a computer (desktop or laptop), and 98% have a smartphone, making smartphones the most universally present connected device.

The average number of smart TVs per household has grown from 1.7 in 2015 to 2.4 in 2025, with projections pointing to 2.5 by 2027, according to the same Kagan data. That multi-set reality carries implications for reach: a media plan that reaches a household does not necessarily reach a household on every screen.

Connected TV commands nearly 60% of daily digital video time

According to EMARKETER Forecast data from May 2026, cited in the VAB report, the average US adult 18 and over spends 2 hours and 37 minutes per day watching digital video on connected TV in 2026. That is up 8% from 2 hours and 25 minutes in 2025. Mobile devices account for 1 hour and 39 minutes, up 5% year on year. Desktop and laptop viewing held flat at 21 minutes in both 2025 and 2026.

The CTV total represents roughly 57% of combined daily digital video time across all three device types. This concentration reflects a viewing pattern consistent with earlier-reported VAB research from March 2026, which found that smart TV built-in apps had become the default TV interface for 30% of viewers by 2025, up from just 10% in 2020. Set-top boxes, which held 47% of the default device share in 2020, fell to 28% by 2025. Streaming media players such as Roku, Fire TV, and Apple TV held a 16% share in 2025.

Hub Entertainment's "Decoding The Default," published in August 2025, provides the underlying source data for that default device shift, as cited in the VAB report.

What households do with television sets beyond watching content

A Samsung Smart TV Utility Tracking Research study from Q1 2025, referenced in the report, surveyed what owners use their television sets for beyond traditional programming. Internet-based video - such as YouTube or Twitch - ranked first at 62% of respondents. Gaming followed at 44%, then social media viewing (TikTok, Facebook) at 37%, ambiance content at 35%, and fitness programs at 33%.

Shopping and browsing online stores registered at 26% of respondents, equal with learning and education. Video calls or virtual meetings accounted for 23% of respondents. Only 17% said they use the TV exclusively for shows and movies.

The VAB report frames this activity diversification as an expansion of advertising inventory on the large screen. Internet-based video, social media consumption, fitness content, and ambiance displays each represent contexts in which advertising formats - pre-roll, interstitial, overlay - can operate. Smartphones, tablets, and smart speakers, by contrast, are used mainly for non-video tasks. Among all US adults 18 and over, the top smartphone activity is texting family and friends, recorded at 96% of mobile users in both 2024 and 2026, according to VAB's analysis of MRI-Simmons Winter USA studies. Watching a video clip ranked eighth overall at 69% in 2024, rising to 71% in 2026 - high in absolute terms, but below texting, using search engines, listening to music, weather websites, maps and navigation, QR code scanning, and social media.

Among adults 18 to 34, video clip watching ranked fifth at 82% in 2026, up from 81% in 2024. Texting remained dominant at 95%.

For smart speaker owners, the primary activities remain passive and audio-focused. Streaming music topped the list at 58% of both 2024 and 2026 respondents, followed by weather updates at 54% in 2026 (down 1 percentage point from 2024) and smart home device control at 37% in both years.

Television viewing patterns: 73% outside primetime, 65% on cable

Traditional television viewing patterns, drawn from Comcast Advertising's Multiscreen TV Advertising Report for the second half of 2025, show that 73% of viewing occurs outside primetime. Cable accounts for 65% of total traditional TV viewership. The average household watches 26 distinct networks.

Comcast's figure covers average time spent per day with live, DVR, and video-on-demand viewing, which it calculates at 6 hours and 6 minutes. That volume of viewing distributed across 26 networks and concentrated outside primetime hours means the scheduling landscape for traditional TV advertising is considerably broader than a primetime-only buying strategy would capture.

The VAB addressable TV guide published on June 9, covered on PPC Land, noted that 92% of US pay TV households are now addressable-enabled, with nearly half of current addressable advertisers planning to raise budgets in 2026. That infrastructure context sits directly behind the Comcast viewership data: 26 networks accessed per household creates a targeting surface that addressable technology can slice more precisely than demographic proxies.

Digital ad views concentrate on the television screen

According to Freewheel's Video Marketplace Report for the second half of 2025, connected TV devices accounted for 86% of all US digital video ad views in that period. Set-top box video on demand added another 3%, bringing the combined television screen share to 89%. Mobile contributed 8%, and desktop 3%.

CTV ad view growth on connected TV devices reached 11% in the second half of 2025 compared to the second half of 2024, according to the same Freewheel data. The format composition of those views also points to live content: 57% of digital video ad views in the second half of 2025 were in live programming, including FAST channels. The remaining 43% were video on demand, of which 91% was long-form and 9% short-form content (classified as video under 6 minutes in duration).

The advertising time distribution on television more broadly, as measured by Comscore across the broadcast months of September through December 2025, showed broadcast and cable accounting for more than 80% of national advertising time. Streaming's share of national ad time rose from 16% in September and October to 17% in November and 18% in December 2025. The December increase aligns with holiday viewing, which historically tilts toward live and premium content.

PPC Land coverage of the March 2026 VAB/TVision premium video study documented that premium streaming platforms outperform YouTube on attention metrics across co-viewing and eyes-on-screen measures, providing context for why television ad views carry different weight than raw impression volume suggests.

Buying larger screens: 63% of recent TV purchases exceed 43 inches

According to VAB's analysis of MRI-Simmons Winter USA studies from 2024 and 2026, 63% of recent TV purchases among adults 18 and over were sets with screens larger than 43 inches. The breakdown: 21% were in the 43-to-54-inch range, 31% in the 55-to-69-inch range, and 11% at 70 inches or larger. The 70-inch-plus category grew 2 percentage points between 2024 and 2026. Sets smaller than 27 inches accounted for just 4% of recent purchases.

The screen-size trend reinforces the viewing time data. A 70-inch display in a living room creates a qualitatively different advertising context than a 27-inch bedroom set from 2012, and the installed base is skewing toward it. For planners assessing the value of CTV impressions, the physical size of the screen - and by implication the attentional environment - is a factor that aggregate impression counts do not distinguish.

Cross-device engagement: 83% of TV viewers text while watching

The June 2026 VAB report introduces cross-device engagement as a new section, drawing on tvScientific's 2026 Consumer Trends Report from April 2026 and DISQO's Outcomes Report on TV Advertising 2026 from May 2026.

According to tvScientific's data, 83% of viewers text or message someone while watching television. Scrolling social media comes second at 78%, followed by searching for something related to what they are watching at 74%, browsing online shopping at 69%, looking up a product from an ad seen while watching at 68%, and gaming at 59%. These behaviors create what the VAB report describes as "social, searchable, and shoppable moments" that extend the reach of a television ad beyond the primary screen.

The DISQO data provides a more specific picture of how TV advertising moves people across devices. According to the DISQO Outcomes Report, 53% of respondents took an action on a different device after seeing a TV ad. Among those who did take action and specified the device they used first, 57% reached for a mobile device, 14% used a laptop or desktop, 10% acted on the same screen, 10% used a tablet, and 9% visited a physical store later. The first action taken most often was searching online at 46%, followed by looking something up on a phone at 38%, visiting a retailer website at 25%, talking to someone about it at 23%, social media at 20%, and waiting until later at 12%.

The timing data from the same DISQO source shows that 39% of actions happen immediately or within minutes of seeing the TV ad. Another 24% occur later the same day, 13% within a few days, and 5% within a week. In aggregate, 81% of consumers took action within one week of seeing a TV ad.

These figures directly matter to search and commerce-focused buyers. The 46% who search online after seeing a TV ad represent a direct, measurable linkage between television exposure and search query behavior - the same connection that PPC Land has tracked through CTV-to-search attribution developments, including the Freewheel, OpenX/TVision, and measurement infrastructure updates covered across 2025 and early 2026.

Contextual implications for media planning

The VAB report does not prescribe budget allocations, but the data it assembles maps the television screen as the dominant surface for video ad delivery while framing smartphones as the device where downstream action takes place.

That architecture - television exposure leading to mobile action - is not new as a concept, but the specific figures update what practitioners can use to defend or challenge planning assumptions. Connected TV at 86% of digital ad views and 2 hours and 37 minutes of daily viewing gives the large screen a structural claim on video budgets that smaller-format alternatives face difficulty matching on reach alone. The 53% cross-device action rate from DISQO adds an outcome dimension: the TV screen initiates behavior that completes elsewhere, usually on mobile, usually within hours.

Smart TV home screen advertising, discussed in recent PPC Land coverage of Samsung Ads and LG Ad Solutions developments, represents a pre-content surface that captures attention before any program begins. The VAB report's finding that only 17% of smart TV users watch exclusively shows and movies on their sets reinforces the home screen's relevance: most smart TV owners are using the interface itself as a functional space for gaming, social media, fitness, and shopping, which extends the duration and diversity of engagement beyond the content viewing session.

Timeline

  • 2015: US smart TV installed base at 89.1 million units, representing 45% of TV households and 25% of total TV sets; average household has 1.7 smart TVs
  • 2017: Smart TV installed base reaches 128.1 million, covering 55% of TV households
  • 2019: Installed base at 159.4 million; smart TVs at 45% of total TV set base
  • 2020: Smart TV built-in apps used as default TV interface by 10% of viewers; set-top boxes hold 47% default share
  • 2021: Smart TV installed base reaches 195.5 million, covering 74% of TV households
  • 2023: Installed base at 222.6 million, covering 76% of TV households
  • August 2025: Hub Entertainment "Decoding The Default" finds smart TV built-in apps the default for 30% of viewers, up from 10% in 2020
  • Q1 2025: Samsung Smart TV Utility Tracking Research surveys TV set activity beyond traditional content; internet-based video tops list at 62%
  • April 2026: tvScientific 2026 Consumer Trends Report documents second-screen behaviors during TV viewing, including 83% texting and 68% ad product lookups
  • May 2026: DISQO Outcomes Report - TV Advertising 2026 finds 53% of respondents take action on a different device after a TV ad; 39% act within minutes; 81% within a week
  • May 2026: EMARKETER Forecast projects CTV at 2h37m of daily digital video per adult, up 8% from 2025; mobile at 1h39m
  • Second half 2025: Freewheel Video Marketplace Report records CTV at 86% of US digital video ad views, up 11% year on year; live content at 57% of all digital video ad views
  • Second half 2025: Comscore records streaming at 16-18% of national ad time across September-December; broadcast and cable combined above 80%
  • Second half 2025: Comcast Advertising Multiscreen TV Advertising Report finds 73% of traditional TV viewing outside primetime; 65% on cable; 26 average networks per household
  • October 2025: S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan compiles US smart TV installed base data; 2025 figure at 250.2 million units; 79% of TV households
  • 2025: Average smart TVs per household at 2.4; smart TVs at 72% of total TV set base
  • Winter 2026: VAB analysis of MRI-Simmons Winter 2026 USA study finds 98% of households own a smartphone, 82% a smart TV, 86% a computer, 67% a tablet, 51% a game console, 41% a smart speaker
  • Winter 2026: MRI-Simmons data shows 63% of recent adult TV purchases are sets larger than 43 inches; 70-inch-plus category up 2 percentage points from 2024
  • June 2026: VAB publishes "Left to Your Own Devices," the June 2026 edition of its multiplatform video Fast Facts report

Summary

Who: The Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), a trade organization whose members include premium multiscreen TV providers and distributors. The June 2026 report was created by Jason Wiese (EVP, Strategic Insights and Measurement), Reed Kiely (VP, Data Insights and Trends), Karolina Guillen (Associate Director, Insights, Strategy and Analytics), and Amanda Cashman (Insights Analyst).

What: "Left to Your Own Devices - June 2026," a Fast Facts multiplatform video report covering device ownership and usage, video content and ad consumption, and cross-device engagement across US households. Key data points: CTV at 86% of digital video ad views (Freewheel); connected TV viewing up 8% to 2h37m daily (EMARKETER); 82% of households own a smart TV (MRI-Simmons/VAB); 53% of viewers take post-ad action on a different device (DISQO); 68% look up a product they saw in a TV ad while still watching (tvScientific).

When: Published in June 2026. Source data spans from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan estimates compiled in October 2025 through EMARKETER Forecast data from May 2026 and DISQO and tvScientific studies from April and May 2026.

Where: The report covers the United States market exclusively. Data sources include Comcast (measuring 210 US markets), Freewheel (US-only data), MRI-Simmons Winter 2026 USA study, and Samsung (US smart TV users surveyed in Q1 2025).

Why: The report matters for marketing and advertising professionals because it tracks where video audiences and ad views are actually concentrating, which devices prompt downstream consumer action after ad exposure, and how the physical hardware landscape - smart TV penetration, screen sizes, household device counts - shapes the reachability of audiences across platforms. The 53% cross-device action rate and the 46% search-after-TV-ad finding are particularly relevant to planners managing budgets across television, search, and commerce channels.