CTV Fragmentation Deepens: Europe Sees Households Average Five Apps in 2025
Samsung Ads' "Behind the Screens 2026" report, based on data from over 70 million Samsung smart TVs in Europe, highlights increasing CTV fragmentation, with households using an average of five apps and an 8% rise in total app launches in 2025. The report identifies the smart TV home screen as a critical content discovery point for reaching diverse audiences in this saturated environment. It provides insights into evolving viewing habits, user loyalty tied to content over platforms, and opportunities for advertisers.
Key Takeaways
- European households averaged five unique CTV apps in 2025, driving an 8% increase in total app launches to 18.4 billion.
- Younger viewers are 21% more fragmented, prioritizing content over platform loyalty and shifting between subscription and free services.
- The smart TV home screen serves as a central discovery point, accessed over five times daily, with nearly 90% of users relying on it to choose content.
- Only 24% of Samsung TVs account for 81% of linear viewing, while 27% stream exclusively, indicating distinct viewing segments.
- Gamers are 88% more likely to follow home screen recommendations and 135% more likely to engage with TV ads, representing an underserved ad audience.
Why It Matters
The continued atomization of CTV viewing habits forces platforms and advertisers to adapt to a content-first, platform-agnostic consumer. The smart TV home screen emerges as a critical choke point for audience engagement, shifting focus from individual app discovery to comprehensive platform strategies. Advertisers will increasingly target diverse micro-segments, requiring more precise measurement and strategic placement, particularly on home screens and within targeted niches like gaming audiences. Watch for OEM partnerships and integrated content guides to become key battlegrounds for audience share and ad revenue.
Additional Context
The trends outlined by Samsung Ads align with broader industry observations regarding CTV fragmentation and evolving ad strategies. EMARKETER reported in February 2026 that the CTV landscape faces significant shifts including platform consolidation, expanding ad loads, interactive formats, and retail media integration. Specifically, the pending Disney+/Hulu integration and potential Paramount+ mergers are expected to consolidate ad budgets and potentially stabilize CPMs, which have been pressured by increased inventory (Digiday, May 2026). EMARKETER also noted in May 2026 that US CTV upfront ad spending is projected to surpass primetime linear TV for the first time in 2026, totaling $17.73 billion compared to $16.98 billion. This shift underscores the growing advertiser focus on performance and data-driven targeting over traditional reach. Interactive ad formats, such as shoppable overlays and pause ads, are gaining traction, with engagement per impression reaching 1.94% in Q2 2025—nearly double the Q2 2024 rate (EMARKETER, February 2026). This reflects efforts to combat ad fatigue as platforms expand ad loads to boost revenue, exemplified by Prime Video doubling its ad load (EMARKETER, February 2026). Retail media convergence with CTV, like Walmart's acquisition of Vizio, further connects ad exposure to purchase behavior, addressing historical measurement challenges (EMARKETER, February 2026).
Read full article at internetretailing.net
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