What's a Good CPM for Connected TV (CTV) Advertising in 2026?

A good CPM for connected TV (CTV) advertising in 2026 is $25 to $35, with the blended market average sitting around $26, according to AdWave's Q2 2026 CTV pricing data. The full market ranges roughly $15 to $65 depending on which inventory tier you're buying.

CTV Pricing Splits by Inventory Tier

CTV isn't priced as a single market — it's split between two very different buying experiences:

• Standard AVOD/FAST inventory: ad-supported streaming across services like Netflix's ad tier, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and the broader free ad-supported TV ecosystem runs $15-$40 CPM
• Premium direct buys: inventory bought directly from the biggest platforms, with tighter targeting, brand-safety guarantees, and less remnant inventory, commands $45-$65 CPM
• Entry-level campaigns: most advertisers testing CTV for the first time land between $25-$65 CPM depending on targeting specificity and the platforms included in the buy

Why the Range Is So Wide

Unlike a single-platform CPM like Meta or TikTok, CTV spans dozens of streaming services, each with its own ad load, targeting capability, and inventory scarcity. A broad, untargeted buy across FAST channels can price near the bottom of the range; a narrowly targeted buy on a premium platform with first-party audience data attached prices near the top. The gap isn't a pricing inefficiency — it reflects genuinely different products being sold under the same "CTV" label.

Where the Market Is Heading

The 2026 pricing pattern is best described as stabilization with segmentation: standard inventory has found a floor around $20-$25 as programmatic supply has caught up with demand, while premium, curated, and targeted inventory holds its value — curated private marketplace deals in particular are commanding a premium over open-exchange buys.

How to Buy CTV More Efficiently

Advertisers who consistently land at the lower end of a given inventory tier's range typically buy programmatically across multiple FAST and AVOD services rather than committing to a single platform, negotiate frequency caps to avoid paying for wasted impressions against the same household, and layer in their own first-party audience data rather than relying solely on a platform's contextual targeting. None of this moves a premium direct buy into the standard-inventory price range — it just avoids overpaying within whichever tier you've chosen.

Bottom Line

Before benchmarking a CTV campaign against a single $26 CPM figure, check which tier you actually bought: a FAST-channel remnant buy at $18 CPM and a premium curated buy at $55 CPM are both performing normally for their tier, and comparing one against the other's benchmark will make a healthy campaign look broken.

Source: AdWave, "What Is the Average CTV CPM? Q2 2026 Pricing Data."