Streaming Wrapped: 2025 highlights and 2026 predictions

2025 proved streaming is unavoidable for viewers and advertisers alike. The honeymoon phase is over, with viewing habits solidifying, ad dollars following, and the ecosystem starting to tighten around what actually performs.

CTV entered 2025 as the future of TV and exited as the center of it. Viewership hit new highs, ad-supported models locked in, and the ecosystem began reorganizing around fewer, larger players.

Streaming officially takes the throne

In May 2025, streaming officially surpassed linear TV, claiming 44.8% of total TV usage compared with broadcast and cable’s combined 44.2%. The gap has only widened since, with streaming now reaching 96.4 million U.S. households. Bets on streaming have been long in the making, but 2025 cemented its national dominance.

Couch time hits new highs

Americans streamed a whopping 13.9 billion hours in 2025, up 6% year-over-year. Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) platforms grew +43%, with 45% of viewers tuning in during Q1, proving free ad-supported content is no longer filler, it’s foundational.

Ads go mainstream

Nearly all SVOD services—except the lone Apple TV+ holdout—now offer an ad-supported tier, and by the end of 2025, 69% of U.S. internet households were tuning in to at least one of these ad-friendly options.

On the provider side, it’s clear viewers aren’t shy about ads either: an average of 61% of accounts sit on basic tiers with commercials, showing that a little advertising—especially when it’s affordable—doesn’t scare people off in today’s fragmented streaming world.

App hopping is still in full swing

The typical Roku user regularly bounced between nine apps, three of them free. Over the year, households added and dropped about four apps, proving that today’s viewers are all about rotation and churn when it comes to curating their content.

Consolidation dominoes tumble

2025 marked a major step toward consolidation. Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros. this fall was the biggest deal to date, but the year also saw FuboTV merge with Hulu + Live TV, Roku acquire Frndly TV, and Paramount Global combine with Skydance Media. Platforms raced to control content and ad inventory, while advertisers chased fewer, more efficient ways to reach audiences.

CTV ads grow, but still need some growing up

CTV remained the fastest-growing ad channel, with U.S. spend surpassing $33 billion. Pause ads, home-screen placements, and interactive units gained traction, while AI played a bigger role in targeting and measurement. Only about half of impressions offered full transparency, but advertisers began leaning on specialized platforms to bridge the visibility gap.

Audio quietly kept growing in 2025, pulling in new listeners, older audiences, and more ad dollars. As screens got crowded, streaming audio proved it still owns moments no screen can touch.

Audio ads and viewership amp up

Digital audio ad spend hit $7.79 billion, with the average spend per listener at $9.50. Nearly 79% of Americans tune in monthly, and 73% weekly, proving streaming’s reach goes far beyond video.

Older ears are tuning in

Americans 55 and older are joining the party in a big way: monthly listening jumped from 52% to 63%, with podcast consumption climbing alongside it. On average, people now spend almost four hours a day streaming music, radio, and podcasts—whether commuting, exercising, or powering through work.

Platforms look beyond the headphones

Audio streaming isn’t just about earbuds anymore. Podcasts and audiobooks are reshaping what “audio” means, while cars, smart speakers, and dashboards open up new listening windows. Even legacy broadcasters like iHeartMedia and Audacy ramped up digital-first content to stay in the game.

If 2025 was all about dominance, 2026 will be about discipline. Streaming is tightening up—budgets, buying paths, platforms, and partnerships—while advertisers push for clearer performance and simpler execution.

Bigger platforms, fewer doors

The consolidation dominoes that started falling in 2025 are expected to come crashing even harder in 2026. More high-profile mergers and acquisitions are on the horizon as platforms chase attention and retention, and advertisers demand fewer, clearer access points. By next year, only a handful of major players may remain.

FAST locks in real share

FAST channels are projected to capture 10% of total TV viewing, with The Roku Channel and Tubi already outpacing Prime Video and Disney individually.

Streaming specialists take the spotlight

Streaming advertising operates under a different set of rules than linear TV or other digital channels. Complex supply paths, partnerships, unclickable measurement, and minimum spend thresholds will push more agencies to outsource streaming execution to specialists who know the ropes.

Advertisers embrace the full streaming package

Omnichannel streaming is proving its power. Expect more brands to bundle CTV and digital audio together rather than treating them as separate silos or skipping audio entirely.

Audio goes programmatic

Programmatic buying will become the dominant method for digital audio advertising, providing scalable reach, cost-efficiency, and measurable performance that singular contracts can’t.

Streaming isn’t optional or experimental. It’s infrastructure. Brands that win in 2026 will know exactly where attention lives and how to activate it.

That’s your Streaming Wrapped.