Connected TV (CTV) now reaches most U.S. people through smart TVs, streaming devices and other internet-connected screens, while advertising and platform markets continue to expand. The figures below distinguish people, households, devices, TV time, catalogs, spending, forecasts and surveys across the United States and United Kingdom.
Key Connected TV Statistics
The most useful connected TV statistics span reach, viewing, content supply, advertising and platform structure:
- In 2023, TV-connected devices reached 75% of U.S. people age 2 and older.
- From the start of 2020 to 2023, U.S. TV-connected-device reach rose from 58% to 75% among people age 2 and older.
- In 2023, smart TVs were present in 70.6% of U.S. TV homes.
- At the end of 2023, an estimated 86% of primary UK TV sets could watch TV online.
- In 2025, CTV users were forecast to represent 70.7% of the U.S. population.
- In March 2025, streaming represented 43.8% of overall U.S. TV time.
- In 2023, CTV content accounted for just under 40% of total TV usage among U.S. adults age 18 and older.
- In August 2023, streaming accounted for 60% of U.S. TV time among viewers age 18–34.
- In October 2023, the U.S. video catalog contained more than 1.1 million unique video titles.
- In 2023, UK connected-TV advertising generated £1.2 billion.
- For 2025, U.S. CTV ad spending was forecast to reach $33.48 billion.
- For 2025, U.S. CTV ad spending was forecast to grow 16.8% year over year.
- In 2025, 56% of global marketers planned to increase OTT/CTV spending.
- In 2025, 72.4% of U.S. viewer television time was ad-supported.
- In 2024, the six largest UK platform operators accounted for more than 70% of devices in active use.
Contents
- Connected TV adoption and household reach
- Connected TV viewing time and audience trends
- Smart TV and streaming content scale
- Connected TV advertising spending and growth
- CTV advertising measurement and marketer behavior
- Connected TV platform market share and industry structure
Connected TV Adoption and Household Reach Statistics
CTV is not one universal measurement category. eMarketer defines it as video watched on an internet-connected TV screen or through an external device, while Ofcom includes smart TVs, set-top boxes and streaming devices; Nielsen uses connected-device and streaming measurement constructs.
Nielsen’s U.S. reach data shows how quickly connected viewing became mainstream:
- TV-connected-device reach rose from 58% to 75% of U.S. people age 2 and older between the start of 2020 and 2023.
- In 2023, TV-connected devices reached 75% of U.S. people age 2 and older; Nielsen’s metric covers TV-connected devices, not smart TVs alone.
- Smart-TV penetration increased from 62.3% to 70.6% of U.S. TV homes over approximately 2021 to 2023.
- In 2023, smart TVs were present in 70.6% of U.S. TV homes; household penetration is not individual-person reach.
Source: Nielsen, “Amid the fragmented TV landscape, time spent with content is the best planning data there is” and Nielsen, “How audience measurement innovation benefits the media industry”.
The UK data uses a device-availability measure, not active viewing:
- At the end of 2023, an estimated 86% of primary TV sets in the UK could watch TV online.
- U.S. CTV users were forecast to represent 70.7% of the population in 2025.
- U.S. CTV households were forecast to reach 89.2% of households in 2026 and exceed 90% in 2027.
The U.S. forecasts use eMarketer’s CTV-user and household definitions and are not observed census results. The UK estimate excludes the report’s secondary-set distinction and measures device availability rather than active viewing.
Source: Ofcom, “The connected TV platform market: An update on our work” and eMarketer, “CTV ad spend surges in the US, but economic headwinds remain a concern”.
Connected TV Viewing Time and Audience Trends
Streaming’s share of television time has grown, but the denominator changes by measure. Nielsen reported that streaming represented 43.8% of overall U.S. TV time in March 2025, up 10 percentage points from March 2023 to March 2025.
In 2023, CTV content accounted for just under 40% of total TV usage among U.S. adults age 18 and older, while connected-device content time for that group increased by more than 20% from 2022 to 2023. By age segment, CTV usage was 80.2% among U.S. viewers age 12–17, 73.6% among viewers age 21–34, and 56.8% among viewers age 25–54 in 2023.
Source: Nielsen, “Amid the fragmented TV landscape, time spent with content is the best planning data there is” and Nielsen, “Connected TV is transforming advertising”.
| U.S. audience group | CTV or streaming measure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Viewers age 18–34 | 60% of TV time was streaming | August 2023 |
| Viewers age 50–64 | 32% of TV time was streaming | August 2023 |
| Viewers age 65+ | 18% of TV time was streaming | August 2023 |
| Viewers age 12–17 | 80.2% CTV usage | 2023 |
The age comparison shows why a single “CTV audience” figure can obscure substantial differences. Nielsen’s measures of CTV usage, streaming share and reach are related but not interchangeable.
In the UK, broadcast viewing remains a separate baseline. Broadcast TV viewing averaged 2 hours 29 minutes per day in 2023, down 9 minutes per day from 2022; viewers age 16–24 watched 33 minutes per day, while viewers age 75 and older watched just over 5.5 hours per day, an increase of 4 minutes per day from 2022.
Source: Ofcom, “Communications Market Report 2024”.
Smart TV and Streaming Content Scale Statistics
Connected screens provide access to an expanding catalog, but catalog size is not the same as viewing demand or the number of unique consumers. In October 2023, the U.S. catalog contained more than 1.1 million unique video titles, and streaming services held just over 85% of those titles.
The catalog grew from approximately 656,000 unique titles at the start of 2020 to more than 1.1 million in October 2023. These are title-availability counts, not audience metrics.
Nielsen’s Gauge also illustrates the fragmentation of services. When the Gauge launched in May 2021, five streaming services exceeded 1% of total U.S. TV usage.
Measurement scale affects reported outcomes as well. Among more than 111,000 broadcast, cable and syndication programs in a 2023 comparison, 87.5% had little-to-no change or a positive rating change under Big Data + Panel measurement; this describes a comparison of measurement datasets, not audience growth.
Source: Nielsen, “How audience measurement innovation benefits the media industry”.
Connected TV Advertising Spending and Market Growth
CTV advertising is growing within broader television markets, but the categories must be kept separate. UK connected-TV advertising generated £1.2 billion in 2023, rising from £962 million in 2022, while total UK TV advertising revenue across linear and BVoD was £4.9 billion.
| UK advertising measure | 2022–2023 result | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Connected-TV advertising | £962 million to £1.2 billion | Internet-connected TVs accessing web content |
| TV advertising revenue | £4.9 billion in 2023 | Linear plus BVoD |
| Total TV advertising revenue | 8.9% year-over-year decrease | Linear plus BVoD |
| Linear advertising spend | 13.6% year-over-year decrease | Linear advertising |
Source: Ofcom, “Communications Market Report 2024”.
For the United States, eMarketer forecast $33.48 billion in CTV ad spending for 2025, with 16.8% year-over-year growth and 6.9% growth in CTV time spent. A separate historical forecast series published in 2022 put U.S. CTV ad spend at $10.93 billion in 2020, $17.20 billion in 2021, $21.16 billion in 2022, $26.92 billion in 2023, $31.77 billion in 2024, $37.45 billion in 2025 and $43.59 billion in 2026.
Those historical series values are forecasts published at the time, not current actuals. The same series forecast CTV ad spend would equal 50% of linear-TV ad spend by the end of 2024.
Source: eMarketer, “CTV ad spend surges in the US, but economic headwinds remain a concern” and eMarketer, “What’s Behind Connected TV’s $21 Billion Ad Spending Boom”.
Advertising businesses are also broadening across services. Two U.S. streaming services had annual ad businesses above $1 billion in 2020, while nine services were forecast to exceed that threshold in 2026.
Source: eMarketer, “4 CTV ad spend trends to track in 2025”.
CTV Advertising Measurement and Marketer Behavior
Ad-supported viewing is a major part of the connected-TV opportunity. Nielsen’s 2025 Ad Supported Gauge reference reported that 72.4% of U.S. viewer television time was ad-supported, and streaming represented 42.4% of ad-supported television viewing.
CTV devices reached approximately one-third of total U.S. TV usage in Nielsen’s Q1 2022–Q2 2023 comparison. In a 2023 North American marketer survey, 40% said CTV measurement remained a challenge.
Source: Nielsen, “Connected TV is transforming advertising” and Nielsen, “Amid the fragmented TV landscape, time spent with content is the best planning data there is”.
Marketer intentions and measurement practices are survey results, not realized spending or universal behavior:
- 56% of global marketers planned to increase OTT/CTV spending in 2025, compared with 53% reporting that plan for 2024.
- 32% of global marketers measured media spending holistically across digital and traditional channels in 2025.
- Only 23% of European marketers reported holistic measurement across digital and traditional channels in the 2025 report.
Source: Nielsen, “Connected TV is transforming advertising”.
Connected TV Platform Market Share and Industry Structure
Ofcom’s UK platform analysis measures devices in active use and includes secondary TV sets. It is a general market-share analysis, not a formal competition-law market definition.
| UK platform structure measure | Finding | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Six largest operators’ share of devices in active use | More than 70% | 2024 |
| Six largest operators’ share | Just under half | 2019 |
| Sky, Google and Samsung combined | More than 50% | 2024 |
| Largest single operator | No operator exceeded 25% | 2024 |
| LG, Amazon and Virgin Media individually | Each exceeded 5% | 2024 |
The six operators examined were Google, Amazon, LG, Sky, Samsung and Virgin Media O2. Nearly 70% of devices running Google’s connected-TV platforms were supplied by third-party manufacturers, covering Google TV and Android TV devices.
Source: Ofcom, “The connected TV platform market: An update on our work”.
These platform figures describe the UK device ecosystem rather than global platform share. They also should not be compared directly with U.S. person reach, household penetration or TV-time measures because the populations, devices and denominators differ.