Research: Blockbuster ad airings down on linear; up on CTV
August 24, 2026



Across movie advertisements aired between May 1st and August 12th 2026, broadcast advertising declined sharply, while CTV impressions climbed, according to analysis from AdImpact.

In summer 2025, there were 192K broadcast airings and 15.2 billion CTV impressions. This summer, broadcast airings fell to 93.6K, a decline of more than 50 per cent, while CTV impressions increased to 17.7 billion impressions, up roughly 16 per cent.


The Odyssey especially leaned into CTV, generating more than 1.8 million impressions before its release and another 741 million afterward, the most of any movie released this summer. In total, The Odyssey‘s CTV ad impressions make up 15 per cent of total movie CTV ad impressions in the analysed period. On broadcast, the movie logged 9.4K pre-release airings and 2.3K post-release airings.

Additional insights:

Minions & Monsters, which premiered on July 1st, maximised the FIFA World Cup 2026 window, with 1.4K airings during World Cup games. The Odyssey (pictured) was a distant second with 600 ad airings, followed by Supergirl with 175.
The NBA Finals provided another prime opportunity, as movie ads accounted for 11 per cent of all advertising aired during the five-game series between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. Major summer releases promoted during the series included Minions & Monsters, Toy Story 5, Supergirl, Masters of the Universe, Disclosure Day and The Odyssey.
Across the movies analysed, the average window between the first broadcast ad airing and theatrical premiere was 95 days. Moana had the shortest runway, with advertising beginning just seven days before its premiere, while The Odyssey began advertising 175 days before its premiere.