CTV has evolved from an emerging channel into a core part of media investment strategies across Europe, with a recent survey by Rakuten TV finding that 100% of professionals either actively use or plan to integrate CTV into their media mix, while 70% of respondents across Europe plan to increase their CTV investment over the next 12 months.
The study – presented by Sarah Kelleher, Director of Media Marketing, Rakuten TV Enterprise, during Rakuten TV Enterprise LIVE London on 9 June 2026 – also finds that advertisers are increasingly expanding beyond traditional instream video formats toward homescreen, pause and display advertising integrated throughout the streaming journey While pre-roll and mid-roll formats remain the most widely used (57.6%), only 6.1% of advertisers rank them as the most effective. As a result, 36% of advertisers identified homescreen advertising as their preferred format for visibility and discovery, propelling homescreen advertising towards significant growth, with a projected 64.6% net increase in investment across Europe.
The findings reinforce a broader industry shift toward formats that integrate more naturally into the viewer experience and create stronger engagement opportunities beyond the traditional ad break.
Measuring attention and impact
The research also highlights a growing shift in how advertisers define campaign success. Rather than focusing solely on delivery metrics, brands are increasingly prioritising attention, memorability and effectiveness. The study finds that 52% of respondents want to understand which formats are most memorable, while 51% want deeper insight into what captures viewer attention.
Creative quality, contextual alignment and visual integration are becoming increasingly important in campaign planning and execution. Advertising professionals identified several areas where the industry can improve campaign effectiveness, with 49.1% of respondents citing improved creative formats as a key growth driver and 43.1% highlighted the importance of better contextual alignment.
The report also found that audiences are broadly receptive to advertising when it feels relevant, balanced and naturally integrated into the streaming experience, with 82.3% of viewers surveyed said they are open to advertising within streaming environments when delivered appropriately.
Industry moving toward viewer-first strategies
The research concludes that CTV advertising is entering a new phase where success is no longer defined by reach alone, but by how effectively advertising fits within the broader viewing experience.
Across Europe, advertisers are increasingly combining instream video, homescreen and display formats with measurement approaches that balance reach, attention and brand impact. At the same time, viewer-first execution (including creative quality, contextual relevance and thoughtful ad delivery) is becoming central to long-term campaign effectiveness.
As streaming continues to evolve, understanding how audiences experience advertising will play an increasingly important role in shaping both campaign performance and brand memorability.
The new findings reinforce Rakuten TV Enterprise’s strategy to build a more open, accountable and effective CTV advertising ecosystem for advertisers, agencies and publishers.
Cédric Dufour, CEO and President of Rakuten TV, comments: “Connected TV advertising is entering a new phase of maturity across Europe. As the ecosystem evolves, the conversation is shifting beyond scale and reach toward attention, viewer experience and long-term effectiveness. This research highlights the growing importance of creating advertising experiences that feel integrated, relevant and respectful of audiences, while still delivering measurable value for brands. At Rakuten TV Enterprise, our focus is on helping simplify this increasingly complex landscape and building a more transparent and effective ecosystem for advertisers, agencies and streaming partners.”
Commissioned by Rakuten TV Enterprise, the research was conducted to explore how the industry can better align advertising effectiveness with viewer expectations across the streaming environment. The report comes hot on the heels of Samsung Ad’s own CTV report published this week which finds that fragmentation in Connected TV viewing is the new normal – and audiences are no longer experiencing CTV as a collection of separate services, but as a single, continuous viewing experience across numerous apps all radiating out from the CTV home screen. Against this saturated backdrop, the home screen has become a vital fixed point. It is the primary discovery moment for content, and a valuable opportunity to capture attention before it inevitably fragments.
