YouTube, rising prices, and the shifting balance of CTV in 2026

Connected TV (CTV) is entering a new phase, defined by shifting viewer habits, rising subscription costs, and the growing appeal of ad-supported platforms. As audiences cut back on paid services and spend more time with free options, the balance of power in streaming is changing.

Here’s what will shape the TV landscape in 2026.

YouTube redefines TV

“YouTube is the most important company in streaming right now, at least from the consumer side,” said our analyst Ross Benes during EMARKETER’s virtual CTV Summit last week.

While many advertisers claim YouTube isn’t TV, younger audiences are proving otherwise.

“For consumers, especially those who are under 30 years old, it’s the service that they rely on most when they are watching content on a TV screen.”

YouTube has now surpassed Disney in TV viewing time, according to Nielsen.

• This is no small feat given Disney’s massive portfolio, which includes ESPN, Hulu, and Disney+.
• “And that’s just on the TV screen,” said Benes. “Half the time spent with YouTube is on phones and computers and tablets [according to an EMARKETER forecast]. That’s not even included here.”

YouTube’s share of total time spent with TV has climbed by about three percentage points in 18 months, found Nielsen data.

“There isn’t another service or company whose share has increased to such a degree,” he noted.

Subscription prices rise

2025 was the first year cord cutters overtook households with some form of paid TV like cable or satellitethere were more viewers who didn’t pay for live TV than who did, per an EMARKETER forecast.

• Benes expects this trend to continue.
• Even counting digital bundles like Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV, “there are more cord cutters and cord nevers than there are subscribers to television,” he said.

As the live TV base shrinks, subscription prices are surging.

“Streaming services used to be much cheaper to access, particularly the ad-free tiers,” Benes said. “We’ve seen price increases that greatly exceed inflation.”

Disney+ exemplifies this trend.

• Its ad-free subscription was originally priced at $7 at launch. It now costs $19, nearly triple what it was five years ago.
• “By the time Hulu is completely a part of Disney, the price of that bundle will most likely become the de facto price for Disney+ à la carte,” he said, noting that could push the bundle's ad-free price above $20.

But as prices rise, consumers are cutting back.

“They’re not really wanting to increase their budget substantially,” Benes said. Instead, they’re limiting themselves to “two or three” paid services and spending more time on free, ad-supported platforms like YouTube and Tubi.

Where linear still wins

While we predict US ad spend on CTV will surpass linear by 2028, there is still one area where traditional TV remains indispensable for advertisers: Live sports.

“When it comes to sports, streaming is a small part of people’s viewing. It was only about 10%,” Benes said, citing Inscape data. But the majority (66.5%) will go to traditional TV channels.

With the NFL, NBA, college football, and other leagues peaking in Q4, “live sports is accounting for about 40% of total national TV ad spending in Q4. If you wanna be in live sports, you still gotta pay attention to linear TV.”

Linear TV will also continue to dominate in ad impressions.

• “Linear TV is 15 minutes of ads per hour. CTV is almost exclusively under 10 minutes of ads per hour, with some services at only two or three minutes,” Benes said.
• At that rate, CTV won’t reach parity in ad impressions until around 2030.