Connected TV (CTV) advertising in the UK is entering a new phase of growth because advertisers are finally able to measure, scale, and integrate it effectively into programmatic strategies.

While CTV has traditionally been associated with awareness objectives, advertisers are increasingly considering it alongside other programmatic advertising channels.

As measurement capabilities improve and access to premium streaming inventory becomes more straightforward, advertisers have more opportunities to incorporate CTV into broader campaign strategies.

The shift is becoming visible in spending forecasts.

Recent industry forecasts project UK CTV ad spending to reach $3.25 billion in 2026, growing 16.9% year over year.

The forecast raises an interesting question: what’s driving advertisers to increase investment at this pace?

Part of the answer lies in changing viewing habits. But audience behaviour alone doesn’t explain why budgets are growing. The way advertisers buy, measure, and evaluate CTV advertising has also evolved significantly over the last few years.

How Better Measurement Is Driving CTV Investment

Advertisers today expect every channel to provide some level of accountability. Whether the goal is brand awareness, customer acquisition, or revenue growth, marketing teams are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the impact of media investments.

As CTV advertising has matured, advertisers have gained access to richer audience insights, campaign reporting, and performance data than were available just a few years ago.

That doesn’t mean measurement challenges have disappeared. Attribution remains a complex topic across digital advertising. However, many advertisers now have greater visibility into campaign performance than they did just a few years ago.

This matters because CTV is no longer being evaluated solely as a branding channel. Marketing teams today are under pressure to demonstrate the impact of every media investment, regardless of where it sits in the funnel. As reporting and measurement capabilities improve, CTV becomes easier to defend in planning conversations and budget reviews. That shift is likely contributing to the growing share of investment flowing into the channel.

Why is Programmatic Advertising Driving CTV Growth

Another factor contributing to growth is the way CTV fits into broader programmatic advertising strategies.

Historically, video advertising channels were often planned and measured separately from broader digital media activities.

Today’s media environment looks different.

Advertisers increasingly want a more connected view of how channels contribute to campaign outcomes. Rather than evaluating CTV in isolation, they’re looking at how it works alongside display, online video, native advertising, and other programmatic channels.

The expansion of programmatic CTV inventory has helped support that shift.

Advertisers can apply audience targeting, frequency management, and optimisation strategies across a wider range of media environments while maintaining greater consistency in campaign execution.

For many brands, this has made CTV feel less like a specialist channel and more like a natural extension of their existing programmatic advertising efforts.

The growth of programmatic CTV also reflects a broader change in how advertisers approach media planning. Instead of assigning channels to specific objectives, many brands are looking for ways to create more connected customer journeys across devices and platforms. As CTV becomes easier to activate alongside display, video, and other programmatic channels, it naturally becomes a larger part of those conversations.

This shift is also changing how advertisers evaluate the role of individual channels.

Rather than asking whether a channel is best suited for awareness, consideration, or conversion, marketers are increasingly looking at how different touchpoints work together throughout the customer journey. The goal is less about assigning channels to isolated objectives and more about understanding how they contribute collectively to campaign outcomes.

CTV fits naturally into this approach. A streaming ad may introduce a consumer to a brand, while subsequent interactions across display, online video, or other digital channels help reinforce the message. Viewed in isolation, each touchpoint tells only part of the story. Viewed together, they provide a more complete picture of how consumers engage with brands.

As advertisers become more focused on connected planning and cross-channel measurement, CTV is increasingly being evaluated as part of a broader media ecosystem rather than a standalone advertising channel.

Streaming Audiences Have Become Harder to Ignore

Consumer viewing habits remain an important part of the story.

Streaming has moved well beyond early adoption stages and is now a routine part of how people consume content. Whether it’s entertainment, live sports, news, or on-demand programming, audiences are spending significant amounts of time in streaming environments.

What’s notable is that advertisers are becoming increasingly confident that these behaviours are established rather than temporary.

Historically, advertising budgets often lag behind audience behaviour. Marketers tend to wait until shifts in consumption patterns become sustained before making significant changes to media allocation.

That process appears to be playing out with connected TV.

The growth in spend suggests advertisers are becoming more comfortable treating streaming environments as a long-term component of their media strategies rather than an emerging opportunity that still needs to prove itself.

Advertisers Are Looking for Both Reach and Precision

Another reason CTV continues to attract investment is its ability to support both broad audience reach and more targeted activation strategies.

For advertisers, that flexibility is valuable. The same channel can contribute to brand-building objectives while also fitting within more data-driven media plans. As streaming ecosystems mature, marketers have more opportunities to balance scale, relevance, and measurement within a single environment.

Why CTV Advertising Will Continue to Grow in the UK

The projected growth of UK CTV ad spend highlights a broader shift in advertising priorities.

Streaming audiences have become firmly established, but audience behaviour alone doesn’t explain the pace of investment. Advertisers have also become more comfortable with how CTV fits into modern media strategies. Better measurement, improved programmatic access, and greater flexibility in campaign execution have all contributed to that confidence.

The forecast of $3.25 billion in UK CTV ad spend by 2026 is therefore about more than streaming adoption. It reflects how advertisers are reassessing the role of streaming media within a digital-first advertising ecosystem.

For many brands, CTV is increasingly becoming part of the broader programmatic mix, helping advertisers balance reach, audience targeting, and measurable outcomes within a single strategy.