Major media companies and streamers are showing off their best and brightest this week during annual Upfront presentations for brands and ad buyers.
As the week kicks off, iSpot on Monday released survey data of 300 brands, agencies and publishers heading into the Upfronts.
The findings support the notion that while traditional linear TV is still part of the picture, viewers and content continue to migrate to connected TV and streaming – and related ad investment allocations are starting to follow suit.
Per iSpot’s TV Video & Ad Strategy report, economic caution is shifting 2026 marketing budgets towards stagnation and cuts – with the highest percentage of respondents (41.5%) reporting that they plan to maintain the same total ad marketing budget compared to the previous year.
Less than one-third intend to increase their video ad marketing budget, including 19% that plan to boost investment by 1-10% versus last year, while 27% expect to decrease ad budgets.
With a critical mass of marketers planning to keep budgets the same, traditional TV is likely to take a hit, as many signaled plans to maintain or decrease investments in national linear and local TV year-over-year.
However, ad spend is poised for a boost on other channels, as iSpot noted survey feedback “was overwhelmingly more bullish” on national streaming, CTV and social video platforms, channels – where 51% of marketers said they plan to increase spend. And over 25% said they expect streaming ad investment to grow by 10% or more, while a third plan the same for social video.
Shifts in Upfront budgets
iSpot also found that more marketers expect their Upfront-specific budget to stay the same (47.5%) compared to prior years, marking an increase from the 35% that maintained Upfront budget levels yoy in 2025.
While over one-fifth of respondents expect to boost their Upfront ad investments, nearly one-third plan to decrease Upfront budgets, including 16.5% that anticipate budget declines of 10% or more.
As for how much of marketers’ overall 2026 TV budget is allocated to the annual Upfronts, the results are mixed. Per iSpot, 14% expect Upfronts to account for 50-60% of their total TV budget for the year while 22.5% expect it to take up 10% or less, and just 4.5% are all in on Upfronts with 91-100% of their budget allocation.
On average, marketers surveyed expect to allocate around 37% of their 2026 TV budgets on Upfronts - although as the chart shows, that average somewhat obscures the varied distribution of budget allocations for the buying season.
“The growing shifts in Upfront budgets reflect a larger pool of ad-supported on-demand content, plus more lean-back linear TV viewing,” wrote iSpot in its report.
CTV ad investment comes as ad-supported SVOD tiers gain share
Expected upticks in CTV investment and shifts in Upfront budget allocations come as premium content like live sports continues to join the streaming and CTV fray and as ad-supported tiers of major SVODs are overtaking the share of those signing up for ad-free offerings.
Data released by Antenna last week suggests that for most premium SVOD services that offer ad-supported options, those plans now account for the majority of new subscription signups.
Per Antenna estimates, ad-supported premium SVOD subscriptions in the U.S. reached 110 million by the end of Q1 2026, up from 100 million a year earlier and just 53 million two years prior.
The firm also estimates that Disney+ and Hulu each saw 70% of gross additions come via ad-supported tiers in Q1, with HBO Max showing the strongest year-over-year growth as its share grew seven percentage points to 55%. Netflix had a five-point gain to reach 54%. Although it’s worth noting, Paramount+ and NBCUniversal’s Peacock each continue to see notable downward yoy trends for their respective ad-tier share of gross adds.
“The ad-supported tier, once positioned as a secondary option, has become the primary way consumers enter streaming services,” wrote Antenna in a blog.
Multiple buying routes, outcomes in focus for marketers
In terms of how ad buyers are purchasing video ads, most (75%+) surveyed by iSpot cited multiple avenues, including DSPs, publisher-direct and social platforms (the latter which ranked the highest at 78%).
And while NewFront pitches already took place, ad buying through smart TV OEMs has seen significant growth – jumping from 25% in 2025 to 55% in 2026.
As for what factor brands and marketers heading into the Upfronts view as most critical when buying and negotiating media, iSpot found that business outcomes as a measurement standard to be the top-cited (45.5%), followed by verified ad delivery (28.5%), efficiency (14.5%) and program ratings (9%).
This follows continued shifts signaling marketers’ desire for more accountability and proof (or measurement) in terms of what ad spend gets them as it relates to their broader marketing goals and results, or outcomes.
Several players in the space, including iSpot among others, have introduced outcomes-focused products and tools. It also relates to more investment in CTV, which has potential to become more of a full-funnel and performance channel via capabilities like advanced targeting and outcomes-based advertising measurement.
Still work to do on outcomes measurement
As marketers invest in TV and video advertisements, outcomes and awareness (the latter, the brand-building capability TV has long been known for) are near equal in importance.
Per iSpot, 45.5% of marketers said driving outcomes is the most important aspect for when they advertise on TV and video, while 43.5% said building awareness.
That’s part of the beauty of CTV, which as the digitally-native channel still serves up sight, sound and motion on the living room’s largest screen – with potential to deliver on both brand-building awareness (which itself may be the “outcome” some marketers are looking for) and more performance-focused metrics and results.
But while brands and marketers are looking for outcomes and different parties are working to deliver on them, it’s not smooth sailing just yet.
Asked to rank the areas of most significant challenges for linear and streaming measurement, 47% of marketers named outcomes as No. 1, ahead of audience and creative measurement. Another 27% viewed outcomes measurement as the No. 2 biggest challenge.
“Paired with other responses indicating a lack of streaming data around things like audience overlap, attribution and programming, this highlights where there are still major differences in how easily advertisers can buy digital inventory,” wrote iSpot in its report.