The Biggest Trends Set to Shape 2026

Every year brings change to the advertising industry, but 2025 marked an especially massive shift in how business was done. AI took over, whether it was the integration of AI agents or assisting in creative development. Streaming continued to gain a larger share of consumer viewing behavior, and industry consolidation started to take shape. 

As we enter a new year, here’s what we’re watching for: 

AI’s Role Grows 
There have been tremendous strides made in AI technology over the last year so prior holdouts will be more willing to adopt the technology. AI will help smaller businesses experiment with different creatives and fine tune their ads in real-time, helping them go to market faster. It will also help them quickly identify which markets make sense for them to invest in.
For regional and local advertisers in particular, AI lowers traditional barriers to entry. AI-developed creative makes it easier and more cost-effective to tailor ads by market, while the scalability of CTV enables access to premium video environments at a local level. As a result, we expect more investment in channels that benefit most from AI-driven simplicity and optimization, like digital media or CTV.

Cautious Ad Spending 
WPP recently revised its 2025 forecast upwards, citing a lesser impact of tariffs and an AI bubble that didn’t end up bursting. This rosier forecast bodes well for 2026, which features major events like the Olympics and the World Cup. 

While these events will bring in the ad dollars, uncertainty surrounding the Warner Bros. Discovery deal might impact how marketers approach the streaming space. Until they know where Warner’s services are going to end up, advertisers might hold their dollars towards the second half of the year, leading to a decline in spend during the first few months of 2026. 

Streaming Continues to Shine 
Streaming overall will continue to rise as advertisers look to reach viewers where they increasingly spend their time.  CTV advertising will continue to surpass linear on the national level, but it will also continue to grow at the local level. 

However, for local advertisers, broadcast will remain the clear leader, generating over 80% of local advertiser budgets. Local linear television remains a tried and true method of reaching consumers in a crowded streaming space. Broadcast delivers strong impressions and guaranteed reach, so they feel there’s no need to veer from their approach. 

As CPG and retail brands continue to navigate the impact of tariffs, we expect them to invest heavily in linear, especially in local markets, to keep consumers shopping post-holiday season. 

Muted Measurement Discussion 
We’ll continue to have the same conversations around measurement and currency. With a years-long track record, Nielsen remains the preferred TV measurement tool for those in the industry. Until there’s a consensus around another measurement offering, we expect this hype cycle around the next big currency to continue. 

In addition, the continued trend of CTV adoption leveraging more easily implemented addressable advertising capabilities will continue to pave the wave for new currencies powered by big data to gain traction.  CTV adoption will create challenges for advertisers to understand where their ads run across the entire TV ecosystem, so it will become increasingly important in 2026 for advertisers and publishers to measure their reach and frequency of household delivery at national and local levels.

While we predict a changing industry in 2026, we’re excited about the road ahead. Reach out to us to see how we can help you prepare your team for a new era of advertising.