Performance TV has become the number one channel for advertising investment as marketers face growing pressure to capture attention, control costs, and prove outcomes in a rapidly changing industry, according to a report from tvScientific’s 2026 State of Performance TV Report.
According to the report, advertising on streaming channels currently accounts for 24 percent of total media spend and ties with social as the most effective channel for delivering results as budgets are shifting away from YouTube, Meta, and TikTok. And adoption is broad, with 77 percent of small and midsize businesses running Performance TV campaigns.
The 2026 report includes the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, transparency expectations, and how Performance TV is reshaping growth strategies.
tvScientific’s Fairchild Comments
The findings reflect a decisive shift away from channels where competition, volatility, and cost pressures are increasing, toward a channel that combines reach, accountability, and measurable performance, said Jason Fairchild, CEO and Co-Founder of tvScientific.
“Performance TV is no longer an experiment. It has matured into one of the most reliable and accountable channels in modern marketing,” said Fairchild in a statement. “Marketers are no longer testing TV at the margins. They are moving the budget to make room for it and putting it at the center of their media strategies. Performance TV delivers the scale of television with the precision, transparency, and accountability marketers need to drive real business outcomes.”
Report Findings
This year’s findings build on significant momentum identified in the 2025 State of Performance TV Report, where 71 percent of marketers reported increasing their Performance TV budgets; in 2026, the average increase is 41 percent.
Last year’s data also showed marketers were already reallocating budgets from social and search toward Performance TV, highlighted growing programmatic adoption, rising demand for better measurement, and identified AI as one of the biggest forces shaping performance television. That trajectory has now accelerated to the point that streaming officially becomes the leading investment channel in advertising, according to the report.
The 2026 report highlights how Performance TV is evolving from a traditional awareness channel into a high-accountability, outcome-driven platform powered by identity, automation, and measurable attribution. Key findings from the report include:
- AI is turning TV into an always-on experimentation engine, accelerating targeting, creative development, and optimization.
- The channel delivers full-funnel value, driving both sales growth and brand lift.
- Transparency expectations are rising, with more than half of marketers citing measurement clarity as critical to success.
New B2B Marketing Foundation
tvScientific reaches 95 percent of ad-supported video-on-demand audiences, using proprietary, deterministic ID technology to connect ad exposure with real business outcomes — providing advertisers with radical transparency and unprecedented ROI.
“Performance TV is now foundational to modern marketing strategies,” Fairchild said. “It delivers the accountability marketers have always wanted from television with the scale and impact they still need.”
The 2026 State of Performance TV Report full report is available here.
