Local CTV's small-market edge is getting crowded
A full-year look at where local CTV impressions landed in 2025, when inventory was most efficient, and why three major events will change the buying calendar in 2026.
Local CTV is no longer an experiment. More than 51,000 local brands ran campaigns in 2025, and channel volume has climbed more than 32% since 2020. The bigger change is informational. Buyers who can see market-level competition are planning against real conditions while everyone else is still using old assumptions.
The report points to a clear 2025 playbook: smaller markets offered unusual reach, Q3 supplied the best price balance, and a few categories built a durable lead. It also argues that the same playbook will get harder to use in 2026.
The strongest impression advantage was outside the top 50
Markets beyond the top 50 represented only a third of the U.S. television population, yet they produced 52.5% of local CTV impressions in 2025. That is a 19-point overperformance compared with population weight.
The reason is structural. National buyers focus on the top 50 markets. Inventory elsewhere faces less competition, which gives local advertisers more room to build reach without bidding against national budgets for the same placements. The report uses Charleston, SC at #85 and Albany, NY at #60 as examples.
The market split
A third of the population produced more than half of the impressions.
Markets outside the top 50 delivered a 19-point overperformance relative to their population weight.
Share of U.S. TV population
Share of local CTV impressions
Q3 found price balance, then Q4 delivered the volume
Spend claimed 26.5% of the year in Q1 while impressions accounted for 25.2%, which signals a premium start. Q3 was the cleanest balance at 22.5% for both measures. By Q4, impressions rose to 29.6% while spend reached 28.1%, and the report estimates CPMs fell nearly 10% from Q1.
The monthly view makes the pattern easy to see. June, July, and August sat near the annual floor, then both activity measures rose sharply in October.
Q1 2025
- Impressions
- 25.2%
- Spend
- 26.5%
Premium
Q2 2025
- Impressions
- 22.7%
- Spend
- 23.0%
Balanced
Q3 2025
- Impressions
- 22.5%
- Spend
- 22.5%
Sweet spot
Q4 2025
- Impressions
- 29.6%
- Spend
- 28.1%
Impressions driver
Monthly share of 2025 local CTV activity
Percent of annual total
Home held first place everywhere, all year
Home ranked #1 in local CTV impressions across every market size throughout 2025. HVAC, appliances, roofing, and home-improvement advertisers have made CTV a regular part of their media mix.
Automotive ranked #2 in markets 51-100 and markets 101+ during every month of 2025. In the top 50, Services, Health & Pharmaceuticals, and Advocacy & Government pushed Automotive to #5. Health & Pharmaceuticals reached #1 and #2 in top-50 markets during October and November, while Advocacy & Government stayed in the top five throughout 2025.
All-market categories by 2025 local CTV impressions
Full-year rank
- #1Home
- #2Automotive
- #3Services
- #4Health & Pharmaceuticals
- #5Advocacy & Government
- #6Media & Entertainment
| Category | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Automotive | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| Services | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Health & Pharmaceuticals | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Advocacy & Government | — | — | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | — | — | 5 | 3 | 5 | — |
| Media & Entertainment | 5 | 5 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 5 | — | — | — | 5 |
— Outside the top five displayed in the source chart.
| Category | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Automotive | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Services | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Health & Pharmaceuticals | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Advocacy & Government | — | — | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 4 | 2 | 3 | — |
| Media & Entertainment | 5 | 5 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 5 | — | — | 4 | 5 |
— Outside the top five displayed in the source chart.
| Category | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Automotive | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Services | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Health & Pharmaceuticals | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Advocacy & Government | — | — | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | — | — | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Media & Entertainment | 5 | 5 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 5 | — | — | — | — |
— Outside the top five displayed in the source chart.
Three events change the parts of the calendar buyers counted on
The quieter small-market inventory, the Q3 CPM floor, and the late-Q4 dip all face more demand in 2026. Published in Q1, the report looks from Q2 through the rest of the year and identifies the Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup, and midterm elections as the events most likely to tighten supply.
February 2026
Winter Olympics
Q1 premium
Q1 already has the highest CPMs on the local CTV calendar. The report names Progressive, Nissan, Toyota, Audi, and State Farm as the top Olympic CTV advertisers adding pressure.
June-July 2026
FIFA World Cup
104 matches / 16 U.S. host cities
June and July historically delivered 7.1-7.2% of annual impressions each. The tournament spans the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and the report expects national demand to crowd the summer window.
November 2026
Midterm elections
$2.48B / +128%
Projected political CTV spend rises from $1.09 billion in the 2022 midterms. Political buyers have fixed deadlines and can lock premium inventory early.
In Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Seattle, the report treats the summer efficiency window as effectively closed. It also flags Texas, California, Michigan, Illinois, and North Carolina as the highest-spend competitive political markets in 2026.
AdImpact's Political Projections Report 2025-2026 projects the cycle to become the most expensive midterm cycle on record. It forecasts $2.48 billion in political CTV spend, up 128% from $1.09 billion in the 2022 midterms.
Use the intelligence gap before it closes
The report calls for the same depth of intelligence in market 14 as in market 114, covering all 51,000+ local CTV advertisers across all 210 markets.
Know the market before buying
Check which advertisers are active, what they spend, when they run, and which creative is already in market.
Move around the Q3 squeeze
For World Cup host markets, the report shifts the usable shoulder periods to May through early June and late July through September.
Plan H2 political markets early
Political buyers secure inventory early. The report cites the same availability pattern in 2022 and 2024 and expects 2026 to be worse.
Act on smaller markets now
The 52.5% impression share outside the top 50 is measurable, but more demand will narrow the advantage.