Premion’s Blake Hebert On Convergence, Confidence And Why CTV Is Having A Local Moment
Premion just released its landmark 2026 CTV/OTT Advertiser Survey. TVREV sat down with Blake Hebert, Premion’s Senior Director, Publisher Operations to discuss the results and their meaning for both the industry at large and local TV in particular.
TVREV: What’s the headline takeaway for the industry from the new report?
Blake Hebert (BH): This is our fourth annual CTV/OTT Advertiser Survey, conducted in partnership with Advertiser Perceptions, and each year we set out to take the pulse of the market — how advertisers are planning, buying and measuring CTV, and where priorities are shifting.
The clearest signal this year is confidence. Nearly seven in 10 CTV advertisers (70%) plan to increase spending in 2026, with budgets rising an average of 17%. That’s not incremental growth. It’s structural commitment. Advertisers aren’t questioning whether CTV works — they’re scaling it because it’s delivering results, especially when integrated with linear and broader video strategies.
TVREV: You’ve talked about convergence before. Does this survey reinforce that theme?
BH: Convergence isn’t a buzzword — it’s now how budgets are actually being managed.
Our research shows that integrated or hybrid teams now control 55% of CTV/Streaming TV budgets, reflecting a structural shift in decision-making. Instead of separate silos, buyers are managing reach, frequency and performance holistically across linear and streaming. And four in five advertisers say combining linear and CTV drives greater impact across awareness, ROI and ad recall. The takeaway is clear: CTV isn’t replacing linear — together, they define modern total TV.
TVREV: A lot of the conversation around CTV has historically centered on national brands. What are you seeing at the regional and local level?
BH: This is CTV’s local moment. Nearly nine in 10 advertisers agree that CTV will continue to grow as a key channel for local and regional marketers — not just national brands. That’s significant. Historically, local advertisers leaned heavily on linear for scale and brand impact. Now, CTV brings precision, audience targeting and measurable performance to that equation — without sacrificing the power of premium video. For example, regional auto dealers, healthcare providers and retail groups want both branding and performance. CTV allows them to achieve both within a unified plan. And when layered alongside linear, the impact compounds.
TVREV: What’s driving advertisers to increase budgets so decisively?
BH: Two things: engaged audiences and precision. Forty-four percent cite the ability to reach highly engaged, opt-in viewers as a key driver, and 40% point to combining TV’s branding power with digital precision. That’s powerful. It shows advertisers value premium, lean-back environments — but they also expect accountability. And the money isn’t just incremental. While 25% of increased CTV spend is coming from overall budget growth, the majority is being reallocated from linear, digital display, paid search and social. That’s a rebalancing of the media mix around performance and premium video.
TVREV: You mentioned premium environments. How important is that in 2026?
BH: It’s foundational. Ninety-seven percent of CTV advertisers agree that advertising within premium video content improves ROI performance goals. Nearly nine in 10 say CTV strengthens brand favorability. As expectations rise, advertisers want brand-safe, high-quality environments that deliver measurable outcomes. Especially for local and regional advertisers who are closely tied to community reputation, that premium context matters.
TVREV: What challenges still need to be solved?
BH: Fragmentation and frequency control. One-third of advertisers cite fragmentation and deduplicated reach challenges across providers as a key barrier to scale. And nearly all see value in managing campaigns through a single platform to simplify execution and unify measurement.
AI is another interesting area. Real-time optimization is viewed as the most valuable AI functionality in CTV (58%), but only 44% believe it will be widely available this year. So expectations are rising faster than the ecosystem is evolving. That creates opportunity for partners who can simplify activation, improve frequency control and deliver clearer reporting across total TV.
TVREV: What does this all mean for 2026 planning cycles?
BH: It means convergence has moved from concept to operating model. Planning in 2026 isn’t about dividing budgets between linear and streaming — it’s about orchestrating them as one coordinated ecosystem designed to maximize scale, efficiency and outcomes.
More than two in five advertisers agree CTV will play a growing role in digital-first total video buying. And roughly half of CTV investment is expected to be transacted programmatically, reflecting more flexible, data-driven activation. For local and regional advertisers, the mandate is straightforward: plan holistically, prioritize scalable premium inventory, simplify execution in a fragmented market and prepare for AI-driven optimization. Those who approach CTV as a core pillar of total TV will capture the next phase of growth.
TVREV: To wrap up: Are we still in CTV’s growth phase, or something different?
BH: We’re in CTV’s maturity phase. The experimentation era is over. Advertisers now expect clarity, accountability and results. The conversation has shifted from “Should we test CTV?” to “How do we maximize CTV within total TV?” And for regional and local marketers, that’s incredibly exciting. Because convergence levels the playing field. It gives them access to premium video at scale — with the targeting and measurement sophistication once reserved for national brands. That’s not just growth. That’s transformation.
