eMarketer: news is an untapped, brand-safe CTV opportunity
News inventory offers brand safety and habitual reach that CTV advertisers are overlooking.
Mariano De Vitto · August 2026
New research from eMarketer, published in its FAQ on CTV advertising trends, formats and platforms to watch in 2026, points to news programming as one of the most underused categories in connected TV advertising. According to the report, news inventory offers marketers a rare combination of brand safety and recurring, habitual viewership, qualities that are increasingly hard to find as CTV audiences fragment across entertainment platforms. eMarketer frames this as a gap between where advertiser dollars are flowing and where dependable, contextually safe attention actually lives.
Why News Content Works
For marketers, the appeal is straightforward. News content draws viewers back on a daily or even multiple-times-daily basis, creating the kind of predictable reach that entertainment and sports programming cannot always match. Unlike user generated or algorithmically surfaced content on some streaming platforms, news environments tend to carry lower brand safety risk, since editorial standards and content moderation are typically more established. eMarketer's analysis suggests that as CTV ad budgets continue shifting away from linear television, advertisers evaluating platforms and formats for 2026 should not overlook news as a category alongside premium entertainment and sports.
An Underweighted CTV Category
The opportunity also speaks to a broader tension in CTV buying, where marketers often chase the biggest audience platforms while underweighting formats that deliver consistency over scale. News inventory, per eMarketer, sits in that underweighted space, brand safe, habitual and currently less competitive for ad dollars than flashier CTV categories.
Why It Matters For 2026
Why it matters: as CTV budgets grow for 2026, marketing teams should treat news programming as a distinct line item in planning conversations, not an afterthought. Testing news inventory alongside entertainment and sports placements could offer growth leaders a more brand safe way to build recurring reach without the premium pricing that comes with the most c.
The Signal Brief · Mariano De Vitto — Head of Marketing, Barcelona