Observed Signal · Jan 20, 2026 · Weekly Roundup · Source: VideoWeek · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
CTV & AI Growth; Video to Counter AI Threat
Week in Charts flags CTV and AI as the main growth areas in IAB Europe’s Attitudes to Digital Advertising, with agencies (76%), publishers (54%), and ad tech (81%) naming CTV and 60% of advertisers citing AI as growth drivers. Reuters Institute notes publishers will focus more on video in the AI era, citing declines in traffic referrals from AI search results. Ampere Analysis forecasts global content investment reaching $255 billion in 2026, up 2% from 2025, led by streaming with spend rising 6% to $101 billion while broadcasters stagnate or decline. CoComelon tops end-of-year video streams, led by The Wheels on the Bus, with Bruno Mars songs in second and third and Golden from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters in fourth. The Week in Stocks section highlights movements in Roku, The New York Times, and Adobe, and the piece weaves in signals around AI, M&A, pricing, and measurement shaping the ad tech and video ecosystem.
Broad industry roundup covering CTV, AI, and content spend trends; not a single milestone
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- IAB Europe Attitudes to Digital Advertising report shows CTV as a main growth area: agencies 76%, publishers 54%, ad tech 81%, and AI growth among advertisers 60%.
- 79% of publishers say video will be a greater focus in the AI era; Reuters Institute notes declines in traffic referrals due to AI search results.
- Global content investment forecast to reach $255 billion in 2026, up 2% YoY; streaming investment to $101 billion, up 6% YoY; broadcasters expected to stagnate or decline.
- CoComelon tops end-of-year video streams; The Wheels on the Bus leads, with Bruno Mars songs in second and third and Golden from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters in fourth.
- The New York Times share price climbs around 36% over the past year.
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Week in Charts: CTV Shares, Retail Media Shift, AI Ads
VideoWeek’s 'Week in Charts' highlights industry data and market moves: Pixalate data shows Samsung held the largest share of open programmatic CTV impressions in the UK (31%) in Q1 2026 while Roku led the US (36%), with Amazon Fire TV second in both markets. eMarketer forecasts China’s share of global retail media ad spend to fall from 44% (2026) to 42% by 2029 while the rest of the world rises from 20% to 22%; the US is expected to remain at ~36%. An IAB UK/MTM survey found half of UK consumers comfortable with AI-generated background images, but a majority uncomfortable with fully AI-generated people in ads. TiVo research shows in-car video is most commonly used to entertain children and is watched more often when parked (41.8%) than moving (31.7%). The piece also summarises recent stock movements affecting adtech and media companies.
Digital Video to Capture 61% of US TV/Video Spend
VideoWeek’s Week in Charts summarizes multiple industry reports showing a continued structural shift toward digital video and rising AI use in video production. IAB projects digital video will account for 61% of US TV/video ad spend in 2026, up but growing more slowly than last year. iSpot research finds streaming partners are sharing more reach and frequency and demographic data but offer less visibility on attribution, programming and linear/streaming overlap. EMARKETER and Admazing report over 70% of US marketers rarely consider mobile gaming a core channel despite many seeing incremental reach potential. Wistia data shows increasing adoption of generative AI for video—69% using AI captions, 39% AI visuals and 25% AI avatars (2025 vs 2024). The piece also highlights sector stock moves, including LiveRamp/ Publicis M&A news and Nexxen revenue-driven gains.
CTV Growth Soars as UK Trust in TV Ads Rises
VideoWeek’s 'Week in Charts' roundup highlights multiple industry data points: Netflix’s UK ad-tier households grew 13.11% quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2025 (Barb’s Establishment Survey), driven by the Stranger Things finale; Disney+’s ad tier grew ~13% while Amazon Prime’s was largely flat. UK research shows rising trust in advertising across channels — TV trust rose from 33% in 2021 to 46% in 2025 (Credos) — while influencers remain the least trusted (25%). CTV viewers value convenience features such as starting a show from the beginning (77%), resuming where they left off (76%) and instant 'watch next' episode playback (76%) per Oliver & Ohlbaum. A study from the IPPR found BBC News is notably absent from ChatGPT answers. The roundup also notes broad downward pressure on agency and ad-tech stocks, Comcast’s relative resilience after Q4 results, Thomson Reuters’ 5% YoY Q4 revenue growth, Apple overtaking Google in market cap, and Amazon’s 14% stock fall after a large capex forecast.
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