The television screen is no longer just a place to watch. It’s a data source, a storefront, a feedback loop. As connected TV tightens its grip on how audiences consume video, executives across ad tech and media say 2026 will be the year when experimentation hardens into strategy.
The next phase, they argue, won’t be louder ads. It will be smarter ones.
CTV cements itself as the center of gravity
Connected TV has quietly moved from “emerging channel” to essential infrastructure.
By 2026, industry leaders expect CTV to sit at the center of most video ad strategies, not because it’s novel, but because it combines scale with insight. Streaming viewership continues to rise, linear TV keeps fragmenting, and advertisers are following audiences with increasing precision.
What sets CTV apart is not just reach. It’s feedback.
Every impression, pause, skip, and completion feeds data systems that help brands understand what viewers actually respond to. That viewing intelligence, executives say, is what makes CTV the backbone of modern campaigns rather than just another screen.
One agency leader summed it up bluntly: “CTV is where TV finally learned to listen.”
AI moves from optimization to decision-making
Artificial intelligence has already reshaped how ads are placed and priced. In 2026, experts expect it to go further, shifting from tactical optimization to strategic decision-making.
Instead of just adjusting bids or formats, AI systems will increasingly guide creative choices, audience segmentation, and media mix planning. Campaigns will evolve while they run, responding to cultural signals and performance data in near real time.
Executives stress that this is less about automation replacing people and more about speed.
Humans still set the goals. AI simply gets there faster.
But that speed introduces new risks. Several leaders warn that without careful oversight, automated systems can amplify blind spots just as easily as insights.
That concern is shaping how companies think about talent.
Cultural intelligence becomes a competitive advantage
One theme came up repeatedly: culture.
Crystal Foote, founder of Digital Culture Group, argues that in 2026 the most effective AI-driven campaigns will not come from the biggest datasets, but from the smartest ones.
Her view is that AI reflects the people who build and guide it. Without cultural fluency and lived experience in the room, campaigns risk feeling hollow or, worse, offensive.
She points out that many agencies cut DEI roles in recent years, seeing them as expendable. That decision, she says, may come back to haunt them.
Those roles, Foote argues, should have evolved into leadership positions shaping AI systems, training data, and campaign logic. In the next wave of ad tech, cultural awareness is not a check at the end. It’s part of the foundation.
In practical terms, that means diverse teams influencing how targeting models are trained and how success is measured.
Programmatic advertising grows up on CTV
Programmatic buying on CTV has moved beyond early chaos.
By 2026, executives expect cleaner supply paths, fewer intermediaries, and clearer pricing. Broadcasters, once wary of programmatic, are now leaning into it as a way to monetize inventory more efficiently while retaining control.
That shift is driven partly by necessity. As streaming platforms multiply, managing ad sales manually becomes unsustainable.
Programmatic systems offer scale, but the challenge has been transparency. Industry leaders say the next year will bring tighter standards around measurement, fraud prevention, and inventory quality.
Advertisers want to know exactly where their ads run. Publishers want fair value. The pressure is pushing the market toward fewer, more trusted pipes.
Voice quietly emerges as a new ad signal
Typing is fading. Talking is rising.
Voice interaction with TVs, remotes, phones, and smart speakers is becoming routine, and ad tech leaders say 2026 could be the breakout year for voice-based contextual targeting.
This doesn’t mean audio ads suddenly taking over screens. It means voice behavior becoming a signal.
What people ask their TVs to find, skip, replay, or explore can inform what ads make sense in that moment. A viewer asking for a cooking show, a sports highlight, or a kids’ movie is revealing intent in a way text never fully captured.
Advertisers are watching closely.
Voice data adds nuance. It captures tone, urgency, and context, offering a different layer of understanding than clicks or scrolls.
Privacy concerns remain, and executives stress that consent and anonymization will shape how far this goes. Still, many believe voice will become a meaningful input, not a gimmick.
Measurement shifts from impressions to impact
Counting impressions is no longer enough.
As CTV matures, advertisers are demanding clearer answers to harder questions. Did this ad change behavior? Did it influence perception? Did it drive action across devices?
By 2026, experts expect more campaigns to be evaluated on outcomes rather than exposure. That means linking CTV viewing to brand lift, website visits, app installs, or even in-store activity.
This is where AI and CTV data intersect most powerfully. Machine learning models can correlate viewing patterns with downstream behavior, giving advertisers a clearer picture of effectiveness.
It’s not perfect. Attribution remains messy. But the direction is clear.
Executives say brands that cling to old metrics risk misreading what’s actually working.
Creativity re-enters the conversation
One unexpected trend executives highlight is a renewed focus on creative quality.
For years, the industry obsessed over targeting and efficiency. Now, with AI handling much of the mechanics, attention is shifting back to what viewers actually see.
Shorter formats, interactive overlays, and context-aware creative are gaining traction. On CTV, ads that feel native to the viewing experience tend to perform better than those that interrupt it.
Several leaders say 2026 will reward brands that treat ads as content rather than noise.
That means storytelling. Humor. Relevance. Sometimes restraint.
Technology can place an ad perfectly. It cannot make it interesting. That still falls on humans.
Platforms, publishers, and power dynamics
As CTV grows, so do questions about control.
Large platforms continue to accumulate data and influence, while smaller publishers worry about being squeezed out. Ad tech leaders predict more alliances, shared standards, and possibly consolidation as players look for scale.
At the same time, regulators are watching closely, especially around data usage and competition. How those pressures play out could shape which business models thrive.
One thing seems certain: the easy growth phase is over. The next phase is about discipline.
What 2026 really represents
Taken together, these forecasts paint a picture of an industry settling into itself.
CTV is no longer experimental. AI is no longer optional. Cultural awareness is no longer a side conversation. Voice, data ethics, and creative quality are converging into something more complex.
Executives say 2026 won’t be about a single breakthrough. It will be about alignment.
When data, technology, culture, and creativity point in the same direction, advertising feels less like targeting and more like communication.
