The Video Advertising Bureau today published its June 2026 edition of "Staying Current on Streaming," a Fast Facts briefing that maps four behavioral shifts now reshaping connected television for advertisers and media buyers. The report draws on research from FreeWheel, MRI-Simmons, Samsung Ads, Tubi, LG Ad Solutions, MediaScience, Luminate Intelligence, and tvScientific, among others, presenting a detailed picture of how U.S. audiences navigate the streaming market in 2026.

The findings carry immediate implications for media planners. Ad-supported streaming has moved past the experimental phase - it is now the default mode of consumption for nearly all U.S. viewers, with FAST channels multiplying at speed and consumers signaling openness to artificial intelligence in ad decisioning. For a community tracking CTV budget allocation and programmatic strategy, the VAB data adds quantitative ground to arguments that have been circulating for several years.

A fragmented market, somewhat simplified

The starting point is scale. According to VAB, audiences can choose from more than 300 standalone streaming services in 2026 - a figure that peaked at 365 in 2022 and has since edged downward through consolidation, settling at 338 in 2025. The number tells a specific story. After years of proliferation that made navigation genuinely difficult for consumers, the market has begun contracting at the edges without fundamentally narrowing the choice set. Three hundred standalone services remain a lot.

Subscriptions have multiplied alongside that choice. According to data from Philo and Parks Associates cited in the VAB report, U.S. internet households subscribe to an average of 5.3 streaming services. However, the number they actively access in any given month is smaller: 2.8 apps per month, according to TVision's State of Streaming report from February 2026. The gap between the subscription count and the active usage count is not a sign of waste. It reflects intentional curation - consumers holding a portfolio of services but rotating through them based on what is available at any moment.

That curation behavior produces what VAB calls "more intentional viewing." Rather than defaulting to a single platform, subscribers move between services to find content that matches their current interest. According to FreeWheel's 2026 report "Voice of the Viewer: How Ad Experiences Impact Streaming for U.S. Viewers," 9 in 10 viewers express satisfaction with their streaming experience overall - a high baseline that reflects how well the flexibility model is working for audiences even if it creates targeting complexity for buyers.

What matters to those viewers? Content access leads by a wide margin. Among the top three things viewers enjoy about streaming, 74% cite the availability of content they want to watch, 65% value the ability to binge-watch on demand, and 57% value price. Content drives choice; value reinforces it.

The big screen and shared viewing

Where streaming happens matters as much as how often. According to Tubi's "The Stream 2026: When Intention Becomes Attention," published in March 2026 and based on a Harris Poll survey of 2,500 U.S. adults aged 18 and over who stream at least one hour per week, 51% of streamers are watching on a television or larger screen. That majority shifts the medium back toward the living room even as device options multiply. Forty-five percent say they enjoy creating a comfortable environment when streaming - a behavioral signal that the screen is a deliberate experience rather than background activity.

Social context reinforces that finding. The same Tubi survey found that 42% of respondents watch streaming content with family, friends, or a partner. A separate data point from the same research shows 75% of streaming adults agree their household uses streaming together as a form of quality time - a figure that increased 4% year on year. Even more striking: 52% report watching with people who do not live with them, such as at a friend's home, a 15% year-on-year increase.

The VAB and TVision joint report from February 2026 documented that shared viewing on premium video platforms produces measurably higher attention levels than solo viewing, with co-viewing rates on premium streaming 33% higher than on YouTube. Research from Magnite cited in that report found 43% of consumers say they are likely to discuss ads with others when watching together - a finding with direct relevance to frequency planning and brand impact models.

Fandom and long-form engagement

Long-form video generates stronger audience attachment than music or sports. According to VAB's analysis of the MRI-Simmons March 2026 Cord Evolution Study, 81% of all adults 18 and over agree with the statement "I love streaming TV shows." The share is higher among 25-to-34-year-olds at 84%, matches that figure for the 35-to-44 and 45-to-54 cohorts at 84%, and drops to 76% among adults 55 and over. These are not marginal differences between age groups.

What drives those affinities? Among the top fandom categories measured in the Tubi 2026 research, movies rank first at 44% of respondents, followed by TV shows at 38%, music at 34%, and sports teams at 30%. Long-form video content - the primary commodity of streaming services - outranks both music and sports as a source of passionate audience identification.

That passion translates into social behavior. According to VAB analysis of MRI-Simmons March 2026 data, 45% of all adult streamers say they often talk about TV shows with friends, a figure that reaches 54% among adults 18 to 24 and 25 to 34. Forty-one percent of all adult streamers say they like watching shows that everyone is talking about - rising to 51% for adults 18 to 24. Social media amplification is narrower but still significant: 17% of adult streamers overall report using social media to talk about shows, with the 18-to-24 cohort reaching 28%.

Platform loyalty follows from fandom mechanics. According to Tubi's March 2026 research, 74% of viewers say they are loyal to streaming services that support their fandoms. That loyalty is reinforced by personalized discovery: 68% say they feel seen when a streaming service helps them find a new fandom or niche, while 73% report that platforms make them feel seen when suggesting new content from genres or creators they already enjoy. These are the conditions in which recommendation engines and first-party data assets become durable competitive advantages for platforms - and targeting signals for advertisers buying audience segments around specific content verticals.

Ad-supported streaming becomes foundational

The shift toward ad-supported video on demand is the most consequential commercial development documented in the VAB report. The numbers are blunt. According to FreeWheel's 2026 Voice of the Viewer study, 89% of all paid streaming subscribers use at least one service that carries advertising. Within that group, 44% use only services that carry ads, 45% use a mix of ad-supported and ad-free services, and just 11% have exclusively ad-free subscriptions.

The directional trend is clear from Samsung Ads' State of CTV 2026, which compared Q4 2025 with Q4 2024 across active Samsung TVs. Total streaming time grew 7% year on year. But ad-supported streaming time grew 24%, while ad-free streaming time fell 26%. The divergence - plus 24 versus minus 26 in a single year - marks a structural reorientation rather than a marginal shift.

Consumers are not passive in this trend. According to VAB's analysis of MRI-Simmons March 2025 and March 2026 Cord Evolution Study data, the share of streamers aged 18 to 24 who prefer free video with ads over paid ad-free services rose from 60% to 68% in one year. The 25-to-34 cohort moved from 60% to 70%. Adults 35 and over held at 68% to 69%. These are not small moves. The youngest cohort is shifting toward ad tolerance at the same pace as the oldest - cost sensitivity drives behavior across generations.

Among AVOD subscribers specifically, 61% say they actively chose a plan with ads when signing up - meaning the majority made an affirmative decision, not a default. Forty-one percent cite cost savings as a reason they value the ad-supported model, and 40% say they like having a natural break during content. Ad tolerance is partly utility, partly preference.

PPC Land's April 2026 coverage of the VAB Rising Tides report documented that 209.4 million U.S. viewers now use ad-supported streaming services - a scale figure that contextualizes why CTV ad spending is projected by eMarketer to reach $38 billion in 2026, representing 43% of all TV ad budgets. The same article noted that FAST apps on premium platforms averaged session lengths of 1 hour and 24 minutes, second only to virtual MVPD apps, a figure directly relevant to frequency models and completion rate benchmarks.

FAST channels: 1,700 and counting

Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV has grown to a scale that demands its own analysis. According to Luminate Intelligence's "The State of FAST, 2026," the total number of U.S. FAST channels has grown from 424 in 2020 to 1,700 in 2026 - a fourfold increase in six years. Active U.S. FAST households have expanded from 22 million in 2020 to an estimated 54 million in 2026, a 2.5 times increase over the same period.

The channel growth is not uniform across genres. Unscripted series - reality, lifestyle, and game shows - dominate at 572 channels in Q1 2026, up from 285 in Q1 2022. News comes second at 290 channels, scripted series at 275, and movies at 153. Sports FAST channels have grown from 53 in 2022 to 115 in 2026. The unscripted category is nearly double its nearest competitor in channel count, which reflects production economics as much as viewer demand: unscripted content is cheaper to produce, licenses at lower cost from existing libraries, and suits the always-on, passive viewing model that FAST is built around.

PPC Land's August 2025 report on FAST channel growth documented that the FAST format had expanded 42% since mid-2023, with reality programming alone surging 626% between July 2024 and February 2025 based on Gracenote data. Goldman Sachs, cited in that report, forecast 15% annual growth for the FAST universe through 2027.

FAST engagement builds with age rather than declining. According to Luminate Intelligence's FASTMaster Q4 2025 Study of 1,956 adults aged 18 to 64 who use at least one FAST service at least weekly, median weekly FAST viewing hours are 5.1 hours for the 18-to-24 cohort, rising to 6.2 hours for 25-to-34 and falling slightly to 5.8 for 35-to-44. Then the figure jumps sharply: 9.6 hours among 45-to-54-year-olds and 9.7 hours among 55-to-64-year-olds. The oldest FAST viewers are spending nearly twice as many hours per week on these channels as the youngest. For advertisers targeting older demographics without paying premium SVOD rates, that consumption gap has direct budget implications.

CTV targeting, interactivity, and AI

The fourth section of the VAB report moves from audience behavior to advertising mechanics. Three capabilities are documented in detail: precision targeting, interactive ad formats, and AI in ad decisioning.

On targeting, LG Ad Solutions and MediaScience's 2026 study "The Art and Science of The CTV-First Era - Part 2: Consumer Experience" found that 64% of users find targeted CTV ads acceptable. Compared to untargeted ads, targeted ads produce 23% less likelihood of viewers feeling overwhelmed, a 20% higher likelihood of ad interaction, and a 13% higher likelihood of wanting more information. These are measured differences in behavior rather than stated preferences, and they shift the case for audience-based buying from efficiency to experience.

Interactive formats produce more dramatic shifts. According to the same LG Ad Solutions and MediaScience research, interactive CTV ads generate 2 times higher engagement than non-interactive ads and 138% higher unaided brand recall. The recall figure is particularly significant for brand advertisers evaluating CTV against other video channels: a format that more than doubles spontaneous recall changes the cost-per-awareness calculation substantially.

Consumer appetite for interactivity translates into commerce intent. According to Philo and Parks Associates' "Unified Streaming: Unlocking Next-Gen Advertising," 56% of vMVPD subscribers say they would likely order food for delivery from a special promo appearing in a streaming context, 55% would click for more information on an item in content, 51% would click for more information on a product in a commercial, 49% would shop for merchandise related to a show or sporting event, and 48% would click to purchase items featured on a shopping channel. These figures, all scoring between 5 and 7 on a 7-point likelihood scale, suggest a broadly commerce-ready audience that has not yet been fully activated.

The YouTube Brandcast in May 2026 introduced a Buy with Google Pay integration on CTV screens, making the living room remote a direct purchase mechanism. The VAB consumer data suggests that appetite exists beyond YouTube's inventory as well.

On AI specifically, FreeWheel's 2026 research found 66% of viewers are open to AI deciding which ads are shown during content, and 50% are open to AI being used to create the ads themselves. Consumer acceptance of AI in the ad experience at these rates - more than half willing to accept AI-generated creative - removes a barrier that ad tech companies have often had to navigate around. The Philo and Parks Associates research adds granularity: 64% of vMVPD subscribers find it appealing if AI offers more information about the content they are watching, 56% value AI improving recommendations on what to watch next, and 56% value AI ensuring ads are more relevant.

PPC Land's coverage of OpenX and TVision's attention targeting launch in March 2026 documented the first supply-side pre-bid attention targeting system for CTV, which converts TVision's second-by-second in-home viewing panel data into real-time activation signals before a bid clears. That technical architecture - moving attention data from post-campaign analysis to pre-bid input - is one practical example of how the targeting capability documented in the VAB research is being operationalized at the infrastructure level.

What this means for media buyers

The VAB report is the fourth annual edition of the "Staying Current on Streaming" series, and the consistency of its structural argument is itself a data point. In 2026, the cumulative direction is unmistakable: ad-supported viewing is the majority mode, FAST is scaling at a rate that outpaces most traditional media segments, and CTV advertising technology is catching up with the audience behavior that preceded it by several years.

For media planners, the specific numbers in this edition update inputs that affect planning models directly. An 89% ad-exposure rate among paying subscribers means the effective reach of CTV ad campaigns is substantially higher than subscription penetration figures alone would suggest. A 24% year-on-year increase in ad-supported viewing time, set against a 26% decline in ad-free viewing time, means the AVOD inventory pool is expanding rapidly. And the 138% unaided recall advantage for interactive formats means that format selection on CTV carries consequences beyond viewability that standard impression metrics do not capture.

PPC Land's March 2026 analysis of FAST channels in Europe found 82% of European FAST viewers citing free access as their primary motivation, mirroring the cost-sensitivity findings in the U.S. VAB data. The behavioral pattern appears consistent across markets even as the specific platforms and channel counts differ.

The VAB report was created by Jason Wiese, EVP of Strategic Insights and Measurement, and Leah Pujalte, VP of Audience and Behavioral Insights. The full dataset is available to VAB members and qualified marketers at theVAB.com.

Timeline

  • 2015 - U.S. standalone streaming services total 154, according to Philo and Parks Associates data cited by VAB
  • 2020 - Total U.S. FAST channels reach 424; estimated active U.S. FAST households total 22 million, according to Luminate Intelligence
  • 2021 - Standalone streaming services peak at 359
  • 2022 - Standalone streaming services peak at 365; FAST channels reach 820; FAST households grow to 38 million; Q1 2022 unscripted FAST channels number 285
  • February 2026 - TVision's State of Streaming documents Americans access 2.8 streaming apps per month on average; VAB and TVision joint report shows premium video delivers 33% stronger co-viewing and 18% higher sustained attention than YouTube on CTV
  • March 2026 - Tubi publishes "The Stream 2026: When Intention Becomes Attention," a Harris Poll survey of 2,500 U.S. adults documenting that 90% of streamers report high engagement while watching TV and movies, 52% watch with people outside their household (+15% year on year), and 74% are loyal to platforms that support their fandoms
  • March 2026 - VAB Rising Tides report documents 209.4 million U.S. AVOD viewers and CTV ad spend projected at $38 billion - 43% of all TV budgets
  • March 2026 - FAST channels in Europe reach 27% household adoption, with 82% of European FAST viewers citing free access as primary motivation
  • March 2026 - MRI-Simmons March 2026 Cord Evolution Study shows 68% of adults 18-24 and 70% of adults 25-34 prefer free streaming with ads over paid ad-free services, up from 60% for both groups in March 2025
  • March 11, 2026 - OpenX and TVision launch the first supply-side pre-bid attention targeting system for CTV
  • Q1 2026 - Luminate Intelligence documents FAST channels at 1,700 total; unscripted series lead at 572 channels; news second at 290; scripted series at 275
  • Q4 2025 vs. Q4 2024 - Samsung Ads State of CTV 2026 records ad-supported streaming time up 24%, ad-free streaming time down 26%, overall streaming time up 7%
  • June 2026 - VAB publishes "Staying Current on Streaming: The Latest on Connected TV Consumer Behaviors," the fourth annual edition, drawing on data from FreeWheel, MRI-Simmons, Samsung Ads, LG Ad Solutions, MediaScience, Luminate Intelligence, Tubi, and tvScientific

Summary

Who: The Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), represented by Jason Wiese, EVP of Strategic Insights and Measurement, and Leah Pujalte, VP of Audience and Behavioral Insights.

What: VAB today published "Staying Current on Streaming: The Latest on Connected TV Consumer Behaviors," the fourth annual edition of its Fast Facts series, documenting four key shifts in U.S. streaming behavior in 2026: intentional multi-service viewing, strong long-form content engagement and fandom, structural migration toward ad-supported models, and rising consumer acceptance of CTV targeting and interactive ad formats.

When: The report was published in June 2026, drawing on research conducted across multiple periods including Q4 2025 Samsung Ads data, the March 2026 MRI-Simmons Cord Evolution Study, and Tubi and FreeWheel studies from early 2026.

Where: The findings cover the U.S. streaming market primarily, with supporting FAST channel data from Luminate Intelligence's FASTMaster analysis covering services including Peacock, Prime Video, Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Tubi, Vizio WatchFree+, and Xumo.

Why: The report provides media planners and CTV advertisers with updated benchmarks across subscription behavior, ad-supported viewing share, FAST channel growth, interactive ad performance, and AI acceptance - data points that directly feed campaign planning, format selection, and audience modeling decisions in a market where CTV ad spend is projected to reach $38 billion in 2026.