Streaming is no longer the challenger — in 2026 it is the main way the world watches. But the headline “streaming is winning” hides the numbers that actually matter to anyone building a video business: how big the market really is, where viewing has shifted, how fast pay-TV is shrinking, and why ad-supported streaming is the fastest-growing corner of all. Here are the streaming statistics that matter in 2026, with sources — and what they mean if you run or plan to launch a platform.
Streaming now commands roughly 47–49% of all US TV viewing time (Nielsen, 2026) — more than cable and broadcast combined — while global OTT video revenue is on track for about $353 billion in 2026 across 4.3 billion users. Ad-supported streaming (AVOD and FAST) is the growth engine, and non-pay-TV households have now overtaken pay-TV households in the US for the first time in history.
How big is the streaming market in 2026?
Estimates vary by how you define the category, but the OTT-specific numbers are consistent and large. Global OTT video revenue is projected at about $352.96 billion in 2026, with roughly 4.33 billion OTT video users worldwide and average revenue per user (ARPU) near $81 (Statista). Advertising — not subscriptions — is the single largest slice, at an estimated $236.72 billion. The market is forecast to keep compounding to around $482.76 billion by 2030 (roughly 8% CAGR).
Streaming market at a glance (2026)
| Metric | 2026 figure |
|---|---|
| Global OTT video revenue | ~$352.96 billion |
| OTT video users worldwide | ~4.33 billion |
| Average revenue per user (ARPU) | ~$81 |
| OTT advertising revenue (largest segment) | ~$236.72 billion |
| Projected market size by 2030 | ~$482.76 billion (~8% CAGR) |
Source: Statista OTT Video & SVOD market forecasts, 2026.
Streaming vs cable: who is winning TV?
The clearest signal comes from Nielsen’s The Gauge, which measures how Americans actually spend their TV time. Streaming reached a record 47% of total US TV viewing in January 2026 and climbed to 48.6% by May 2026 — comfortably ahead of cable and broadcast individually, and roughly equal to the two combined. Streaming first overtook cable back in July 2022, and the gap has widened every year since.
| US TV viewing share | Streaming | Cable | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 2026 | 47.0% | ~21% | ~21% |
| May 2026 | 48.6% | ~20% | ~19% |
Source: Nielsen, The Gauge (2026). Among individual services, YouTube led with 12.5% of all TV use in January 2026.
Cord-cutting: the pay-TV cliff
The flip side of streaming’s rise is the collapse of the traditional bundle. A historic line was crossed: non-pay-TV households overtook pay-TV households in the US in 2025 — the first time ever. By the end of 2026, an estimated 80.7 million US households are cord-cutters or cord-nevers, versus about 54.3 million pay-TV subscribers, and pay-TV penetration is projected to fall below 40% of households by 2027. For content owners, that migration is the whole opportunity: the audience has moved to apps, and it is not coming back.
The rise of ad-supported streaming (AVOD & FAST)
If subscriptions built the streaming era, advertising is scaling it. The US AVOD audience reached 209.4 million in 2026, up 27% from 164.4 million in 2023. Free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST channels) has exploded in parallel: more than 1,300 FAST channels now run in the US, channel counts rose 21% in 2025, and viewing hit 1.8 billion hours in a single month (August 2025), up 43% year over year. Analysts expect FAST alone to generate around $10 billion in ad revenue by 2027, with AVOD and FAST together reaching 25% of viewing time by 2028.
Ad-supported streaming snapshot
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| US AVOD audience (2026) | 209.4 million (+27% vs 2023) |
| FAST channels available (US) | 1,300+ (channel count +21% in 2025) |
| FAST monthly viewing (Aug 2025) | 1.8 billion hours (+43% YoY) |
| Projected FAST ad revenue by 2027 | ~$10 billion |
| AVOD + FAST share of viewing by 2028 | ~25% |
Sources: eMarketer, Nielsen, industry FAST reports (2025–2026).
The practical takeaway: the winning model in 2026 is rarely subscription-only. It is hybrid — a mix of SVOD, AVOD, transactional and FAST, so a platform can monetize both payers and free viewers. We break the models down in AVOD vs SVOD and the wider video monetization guide.
5 streaming trends the 2026 data points to
Read together, the statistics above point to five shifts shaping the year:
- Ad tiers go mainstream. Advertising is already the largest OTT revenue segment (~$236.72 billion), and nearly every major subscription service now runs an ad-supported plan — so more viewing is moving behind ad tiers, not paywalls.
- FAST keeps compounding. With 1,300+ channels and 43% year-over-year viewing growth, free ad-supported streaming TV is now a core acquisition channel, not an experiment.
- The bundle re-forms — as streaming. As pay-TV penetration heads below 40%, “super-bundles” of streaming services and telco/retail partnerships are becoming the new way operators cut churn.
- Connected TV is the primary screen. The largest share of streaming time is now on the living-room TV — which is why multi-screen apps, not just mobile and web, decide who captures the cord-cutting migration.
- Owned platforms beat aggregators. With first-party subscriber data and revenue share on the line, more content owners are launching their own branded apps instead of renting reach on someone else’s.
What the numbers mean if you run a platform
Three shifts sit underneath all these statistics, and each one points at a product decision:
- Viewing has moved to apps on every screen — so multi-device reach (web, mobile, and connected TV) is table stakes, not a nice-to-have.
- Ad-supported is where the new growth is — so a monetization stack that runs SVOD, AVOD, TVOD and FAST together captures more of the audience than a single model.
- Owning the audience beats renting reach — the operators winning the cord-cutting migration run their own branded apps and keep their subscriber data and revenue.
That is exactly what a modern OTT platform is for. Enveu Experience Cloud lets content owners launch a branded streaming service across web, mobile and TV with every monetization model built in — SVOD, AVOD, TVOD, PPV and hybrid — and 0% revenue share, so you keep 100% of what these trends are growing. Compare your options in the best VOD platforms guide, or explore building a short-video platform if the vertical, mobile-first format fits your audience.
FAQ
What percentage of TV viewing is streaming in 2026?
In the US, streaming reached about 47% of total TV viewing time in January 2026 and 48.6% by May 2026, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge — more than cable or broadcast individually.
How big is the streaming market in 2026?
Global OTT video revenue is projected at roughly $352.96 billion in 2026 across about 4.33 billion users, and is forecast to reach around $482.76 billion by 2030 (Statista).
Is streaming bigger than cable now?
Yes. Streaming overtook cable in US viewing share in July 2022 and has led ever since, and in 2025 non-pay-TV households overtook pay-TV households in the US for the first time.
How fast is ad-supported streaming (AVOD/FAST) growing?
The US AVOD audience hit 209.4 million in 2026 (up 27% since 2023), there are now 1,300+ FAST channels, and AVOD plus FAST are projected to reach about 25% of viewing time by 2028.
How many people are cord-cutters?
By the end of 2026, an estimated 80.7 million US households are cord-cutters or cord-nevers, versus about 54.3 million pay-TV subscribers, with pay-TV penetration projected below 40% by 2027.
