Connected TV (CTV) is no longer just an evolution of traditional television. It’s a catalyst reshaping the entire media and entertainment landscape. This year, CTV’s rapid market growth, integration of artificial intelligence, and expansion into new environments like automotive are redefining how audiences engage with content and how advertisers reach targets.
Current situation: Market consolidation and streaming giants
The dominance of streaming platforms continues to accelerate industry consolidation. According to a 2025 Nielsen report, streaming overall accounted for nearly half of total U.S. TV viewing, with YouTube and Netflix leading as the two largest individual platforms, outpacing competitors and forcing traditional studios to merge or pursue innovative relationships.
At the same time, TiVo’s Q2 2025 Video Trends Report highlights a parallel shift toward re-aggregation, with 44% of consumers now using bundled services to access exclusive content across platforms. As competition intensifies, content scale is emerging as a key differentiator, with 38% of consumers citing large programming libraries as the primary reason for subscribing to a new service.
Major players like Disney and Fox, Paramount and Warner Bros., and Amazon following its acquisition of MGM, are consolidating resources to maintain relevance and compete for premium content, including live sports. In this environment, deep content catalogs and significant product budgets are becoming essential to survive. At the same time, hybrid pricing models that combine subscriptions and advertising are quickly becoming the norm, with roughly three-quarters of consumers now expressing tolerance for ad-supported viewing (TiVo, 2025).
User behavior trends: App fatigue and platform migration
As the market consolidates, consumer behavior is shifting just as quickly. Streaming choices continue to proliferate, yet users are increasingly experiencing “discovery fatigue,” leading them to gravitate toward fewer, more familiar platforms. A 2025 TiVo Trends Report revealed that the average U.S. household now uses just five streaming apps, down 50% from 10 in 2022.
Within this shrinking universe, Netflix and YouTube dominate engagement while smaller publishers and local broadcasters struggle to maintain visibility. This migration reflects both consolidation and the overwhelming volume of available content. As options expand, users are prioritizing simplicity and reliability, pushing the industry toward fewer, larger platforms that offer curated, high-value experiences.
AI and personalization: The next frontier in content discovery
Against this backdrop, new technologies are transforming how audiences discover and engage with content. The CTV home screen is evolving beyond static content tiles as viewers increasingly rely on personalized recommendations and aggregated viewing experiences to navigate a fragmented landscape.
TiVo’s Q2 2025 Video Trends Report highlights the growing strain on content discovery, with more than 70% of viewers using multiple apps in a single session and over half reporting frustration with the process. At the same time, reliance on traditional advertising as a discovery tool continues to decline, as audiences turn to recommendations, social platforms and algorithm-driven suggestions to find content.
Personalization is also becoming increasingly important for advertisers. More than 40% of viewers say they prefer personalized ads regardless of platform, while roughly three-quarters of consumers are tolerant of ad-supported viewing (TiVo, 2025). As a result, the CTV interface is emerging as a critical gateway for both content discovery and ad delivery, helping guide viewers toward relevant programming while enabling more targeted and effective advertising experiences.
Automotive integration: CTV moves beyond the living room
As CTV continues to evolve, its influence is expanding beyond the living room and into new environments, most notably the automotive space. At CES 2026, BMW and Mercedes showcased vehicles with fully integrated CTV experiences powered by TiVo, featuring dual screens designed for unique passenger engagement.
The in-cabin media experience is quickly becoming a key differentiator for automotive manufacturers, enabling multi-screen entertainment and creating new opportunities for advertisers to reach in-car audiences. TiVo’s Q2 2025 Video Trends Report underscores this shift, with nearly half of consumers reporting that they already watch video in the car and more than 75% doing so at least a few times per month.
Viewing is driven largely by passenger use cases, such as passing time or keeping children entertained, and spans multiple screens, including smartphones, tablets, and in-vehicle displays. As in-car viewing becomes more frequent and diversified, it’s creating a natural extension of the CTV ecosystem and a new touchpoint for content distribution and advertising.
Call to action: Platform partnerships
Taken together, these shifts point to a clear path forward for content owners and advertisers. Partnering with CTV streaming platforms will be critical to leverage AI-driven personalization, secure prominent home screen placement and explore new distribution endpoints that meet audiences where they are.
By embracing these growth trends through a data-driven strategy, media professionals and advertisers can position themselves at the forefront of CTV’s transformation, ensuring continued relevance, deeper engagement and sustained success.
Learn more about how TiVo helps make search and discovery of content choices simpler here.
