AdImpact: broadcast movie ad airings drop over 50% as CTV hits 17.7bn impressions

August 25, 2026 · Advanced Television

AdImpact's analysis of movie advertising between May 1 and August 12, 2026 found broadcast airings falling to 93.6K, down from 192K in the same window last year, a decline of more than 50 per cent. CTV impressions climbed to 17.7 billion from 15.2 billion, an increase of roughly 16 per cent. The Odyssey drove much of the CTV growth, generating more than 1.8 million impressions before its release and another 741 million afterward, the most of any movie released this summer and 15 per cent of total movie CTV ad impressions in the period. Broadcast told a different story for the film: 9.4K airings before release and 2.3K after.

Media plans built around movie release windows now need CTV inventory secured well before broadcast slots are locked, since the shift changes how reach accumulates against a title over its release cycle. Budgets that once weighted broadcast for pre-release awareness and CTV for post-release retargeting face a different split this year, given The Odyssey's pre-release CTV volume alone. Planners tracking titles such as Minions, Moana and Toy Story in AdImpact's data will need forecasting models built around CTV outpacing broadcast by a wide margin.