OTT video鈥攊ncluding YouTube, subscription OTT, AVOD, and free ad-supported streaming TV鈥攊s extremely popular in nearly all forms. But traditional pay TV continues to reach new lows.
32% of US connected TV (CTV) users find traditional TV ads useful/helpful for holiday gift info, while 34% say the same about streaming TV ads, according to June 2025 data from LG Ad Solutions.
Over 260 million people in the US鈥攎ore than 77% of the population鈥攚ill watch over-the-top(OTT) video this year, according to a March 蘑菇AV forecast. Of these, nearly all will be watching YouTube.
Subscription OTT streaming is one of only a few media categories still seeing meaningful time spent growth in the US. The major platforms are heading in different directions, however.
With most of the US already watching, growth in overall OTT viewership has slowed to a crawl. But some platforms, formats, and service tiers are still booming, and digital pay TV is complicating the linear TV narrative.
The number of companies generating more than $1 billion in annual US CTV ad sales more than doubled from two in 2020 to five in 2024. With ad dollars spreading out among services, a few streaming platforms stand out because of their heavy usage.