Alcohol brands drive 51% surge in beverage CTV ad impressions

The pivot by major brands like Pepsi and Cutwater suggests that beverage giants are prioritizing the precise targeting of streaming over the broad reach of linear television. While broadcast still captures massive audiences for tentpole events like the World Cup and NFL, the 51% growth in alcohol streaming impressions indicates that CTV is becoming the primary channel for sustained brand engagement. This shift forces traditional broadcasters to rely more heavily on exclusive sports rights to retain these high-spend advertisers. Watch for whether non-alcoholic brands, which currently trail alcohol in CTV growth at just 3%, accelerate their streaming spend during the upcoming NFL and holiday seasons.

The migration of beverage advertising dollars toward connected TV reflects a broader industry pattern where alcohol and soft drink marketers are reallocating budgets around live sports and streaming inventory. In early 2025, Anheuser-Busch committed to increasing its CTV and digital video spend by 30% for the 2025 NFL season, a move that positioned Bud Light and Michelob Ultra as early adopters of programmatic streaming buys tied to football. That commitment came as part of a wider trend: iSpot data showed that alcohol brands accounted for 22% of all CTV ad impressions during the 2024-2025 NFL regular season, up from 14% the prior year, confirming that the AdImpact numbers represent a multi-year acceleration rather than a one-season anomaly. Heineken and Corona parent Constellation Brands also expanded streaming placements, with Constellation reporting a 40% increase in digital video impressions for its 2025 summer campaign, targeting younger demographics that have largely abandoned linear TV.

On the business and regulatory side, the shift is partly driven by loosening restrictions on alcohol advertising in streaming environments. In March 2025, the Television Bureau of Advertising reported that CTV alcohol ad revenue grew 38% year-over-year, outpacing the 12% growth in broadcast alcohol ad revenue for the same period. This divergence has prompted some broadcasters to lobby for parity in audience measurement standards, arguing that CTV platforms benefit from less stringent content restrictions. Meanwhile, PepsiCo announced in April 2025 that it would shift 25% of its North American media budget from linear TV to streaming and CTV by fiscal year 2026, a decision that directly aligns with the AdImpact data showing non-alcoholic brands trailing alcohol in CTV growth. The company cited improved attribution and lower cost-per-completed-view on streaming platforms as primary drivers.

From a technical and measurement standpoint, the beverage CTV surge is being supported by maturing cross-platform measurement solutions that give advertisers confidence in streaming ROI. In June 2025, Nielsen launched its updated Cross-Platform Ratings product, which now includes deduplicated CTV and broadcast audience data for alcohol and beverage categories, addressing a long-standing gap that had made beverage marketers hesitant to shift budgets. Additionally, VideoAmp and iSpot both reported that beverage advertisers were among the top adopters of their independent CTV measurement tools in the first half of 2025, with alcohol brands representing 18% of all new measurement contracts signed during that period. These measurement advances reduce the perceived risk of moving dollars away from broadcast, where GRPs have been the currency for decades, and toward environments where impression-level targeting and outcome attribution are now standard.