The battle for attention on CTV: premium video platforms vs. YouTube. Published March 30, 2026 The Marketingdive Company is willing to bet you have a connected TV in your home - you probably have 2 (or more). By 2027, they're projected to be in 83% of U.S. TV households, up from 55% in 2017. Shifting viewing habits have increased demand for premium, high-quality and engaging content, solidifying connected TVs as standard in the American home. Advertisers are taking notice. 70% plan to boost their CTV ad investment by an average of 17% in 2026, aiming to reach these audiences and capitalize on advances in targeting, personalization and programmatic buying. As CTV investment grows, marketers need to ensure every dollar counts by prioritizing hard-working impressions. Where do hard-working impressions live? Premium Video Platforms. Let's talk about hard-working impressions. A hard-working impression captivates viewers, keeping their eyes on screen longer. In other words, it's when viewers are focused on the TV rather than on their phone, tablet or another device. Premium video platforms deliver these types of impressions by leading in these 3 key metrics: * Co-Viewing * Attention * Session length To measure these metrics, VAB partnered with TVision, which provided custom eye-tracking data over a one-year period. They captured how audiences consume CTV content across 21 Premium Video Platforms, including AVOD/SVOD, vMVPD & FAST channels vs. YouTube. Here's what its analysis found... Premium Video Platforms beat youtube in co-viewing. First, what is co-viewing? It's the proportion of viewing where 2 or more viewers have overlapping active viewing sessions for at least 5 minutes. Co-viewing creates unique opportunities to reach audiences by sparking engagement and conversations - and 43% of consumers say they are likely to discuss ads with others when they're co-viewing. Vikrant Mathur, Co-Founder of Future Today explains the impact of co-viewing, "It leads to deeper engagement with ads and, as a result, higher performance...ultimately, when family members are in a room watching together, it increases their attention, not just for programming, but for advertising, as well." What did its analysis find? YouTube ranked 18 out of 21 in co-viewing. Premium Video Platforms beat youtube in attention. Why does attention matter to advertisers? It provides a reliable signal for advertising effectiveness, which makes advertising campaigns more predictable. Its study focused on a metric called 'Presence to Active', which is the percentage of time a viewer is in the room out of the total active viewing session indexed to the CTV viewing norm. "Attention gives us a unifier across the different channels that we operate in", says WPP Media's Jason Jutla, Head of Practice, EMEA & UK. What did its analysis find? YouTube ranked 14 out of 19 in keeping audiences present during viewing sessions. Premium Video Platforms beat youtube in session length. James Rooke, President of Comcast Advertising, stated, "Ads viewed in the long-form, lean-back TV environments have greater unaided recall and purchase intent." Its analysis looked to see if this was true, by measuring four buckets of session length: * Super Short: 0 - 20 minutes * Short: 20 - 84 minutes * Medium: 84 minutes - 3 hours * Long: 3+ hours What did its analysis find? YouTube ranked last in average session length, with 75% of impressions falling within super short and short viewing sessions. The formula for CTV ad success. By prioritizing hard-working impressions found on Premium Video Platforms like AVOD/SVOD, vMVPD or FAST, marketers tap into environments where viewers are watching with their family or friends, focused on the TV screen and tuned in for longer periods of time. This results in lifts across metrics throughout the funnel like brand awareness, consideration and intent. Want to learn more? Download the full report, which is packed with stats and charts comparing CTV platforms. About VAB. VAB plays a dual role in the video advertising industry. The Marketingdive Company is leading the change to bring about a more innovative and transparent marketplace. The Marketingdive Company also provide insights and thought leadership that enables marketers to develop business-driving marketing strategies. The Marketingdive Company is proud to offer VAB members, brand marketers and agencies complimentary access to its continuously growing Insights Library. Get immediate access at thevab.com. Filed Under: Video

OpenX, TVision launch supply-side Attention Targeting solution for CTV. Powered by TVision, this new integration enables advertisers to reach the most engaged CTV audiences and improve campaign impact through pre-bid targeting. OpenX Technologies, Inc., an omnichannel supply-side platform, has announced the launch of OpenX Attention Targeting, a first-to-market capability that allows advertisers to easily target high-attention CTV inventory in real time. Powered by TVision, this new integration enables advertisers to reach the most engaged CTV audiences and improve campaign impact through pre-bid targeting. As CTV ad spend is projected to grow nearly 14% this year, advertisers are demanding greater transparency and improved performance. Pioneered in 2023, TV by OpenX already provides a standard of quality through 100% glass-on-wall supply and direct publisher relationships. However, the broader CTV market remains fragmented, and impression-level engagement has been difficult to measure. Now, with OpenX Attention Targeting, buyers can activate in real time against predictive attention scores - turning measurement into optimisation. In this unique solution, data from TVision's passive, in-home person-level panel powers predictive attention models grounded in actual viewer engagement. These models are then combined with OpenX's real-time bidstream signals, including time of day, device type, and viewing duration, to enable precise targeting across TV by OpenX supply. Buyers can apply attention targeting to any CTV deal curated within OpenXSelect, whether through self-serve or managed service workflows. Advertisers leveraging OpenX Attention Targeting can: * Reach the most engaged CTV viewers across 231 million-plus monthly unique users via OpenX's identity graph * Layer attention signals with audience, content, and contextual targeting with no additional setup * Curate PMP deals that complement direct buys with high-attention, multi-publisher inventory "The next evolution of attention metrics is from pre- and post-campaign to real-time optimisation," said Hassan Babajane, CRO at TVision. "This partnership allows buyers to use attention metrics to shape campaign performance. We're proud to bring the most actionable use of attention data yet to the programmatic ecosystem alongside OpenX."' "OpenX Attention Targeting gives brands what they've been asking for: real-time CTV performance optimisation based on true viewer engagement," said Erika Loberg, Global Head of CTV at OpenX. "For the first time, advertisers can activate attention as a targeting parameter at scale, in real time, and directly influence outcomes before the bid." The Martechvibe team works with a staff of in-house writers, and industry experts. View More