Podcast Summary: The Evolution of the Streaming Viewer

Podcast: Behind the Numbers (an EMARKETER Podcast)
Episode: CTV and Streaming Advertising Trends for 2026 Summit Panel
Date: November 25, 2025
Host: Ethan Kramer-Flood (Principal Forecasting Writer, eMarketer)
Panelists:

• Amanda Corral (Senior Director, Paid Media Strategy, PepsiCo)
• Nydia Sahagun (Head of Marketing Strategy & Innovation, Primary Care Organization, Humana)
• Todd Segal (Senior Director, Media Sales, Verve)

Episode Overview

This special summit panel dissects the rapidly evolving landscape of Connected TV (CTV) and streaming viewership through the lens of marketers, advertisers, and platform providers. The discussion explores demographic shifts, content fragmentation, the mainstreaming of ad-supported streaming, changes in advertising creative, the challenge and opportunity of second-screen behaviors, and the drive toward personalization—all pivotal as CTV becomes the “new default” for video consumption and advertising in 2026.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. CTV’s Dominance & Demographic Shift

• CTV is Mainstream: 244M CTV users (72% of US population) forecasted for 2026, surpassing traditional pay TV's 158M users. (02:00)
• Pan-Demographic Penetration: CTV popular among all ages; notably, the 65+ cohort (Boomers) now has over 50% penetration and is the fastest-growing segment.

Quote:
“We do see a lot of seniors still on linear tv. But I think there's been this myth about seniors in that they don't really mix with technology. And so we've seen the opposite to be true and are debunking that myth.”
—Nydia Sahagun (04:33)

• Content Tailoring for Seniors: Classic shows (e.g., “Westerns,” “I Love Lucy,” “MASH”) are driving engagement with senior audiences, helping brands like Humana connect authentically.
• CTV’s Sports Advantage: Streaming of sports is luring key demographics and cementing CTV as the new mass-reach, “default” channel (05:50).

2. The Rise of Ad-Supported Streaming & Shifting Viewer Preferences

• Ad Tolerance Grows: Even formerly “ad-free” streaming audiences now see ads as fair trade for free content, with 81% calling it “a fair trade.”
• Ad-Supported Growth: All major streamers (Netflix, Disney+) are seeing ad-supported tiers grow faster than ad-free. FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) channels and YouTube drive this shift. (07:30–09:00)

Quote:
“What a time to be a marketer when people are asking for ads...the ad experience is what's bringing value back to consumers.”
—Amanda Corral (09:23)

• Implications for Creative: Brands can infuse ads with emotional storytelling or leverage new formats like “pause ads” (ads that appear when viewing is paused) for contextual, less intrusive engagement. (10:30)

3. The Changing Nature of TV Advertising

• Creative Flexibility: Cinematic brand ads, influencer/creator-style spots, short- and long-form, and AI-generated creative now coexist in the same streaming environments.

Quote:
“You can have this cinematic brand style ads and a creator style YouTube kind of spots and they're all happening all in the same place now.”
—Ethan Kramer-Flood (13:00)

• Strategic Fit for Moments: Matching ad format, message, and platform to the specific viewing context (e.g., sports, holidays, snack breaks) is critical.
• Authenticity is Key: Leveraging real voices, whether through influencers or testimonials, enhances trust and engagement, especially in high-trust categories like healthcare. (17:01–18:36)

4. Navigating Content Fragmentation

• Monoculture Is Over: The explosion of platforms and content has ended the days of a shared national TV experience, except for major sports.

Quote:
“It is the depth of the monoculture because people are consuming, like I mentioned earlier, so many different titles... So it does make it tough to find audiences just around like kind of what used to be just a contextual type buy.”
—Todd Segal (20:07)

• Data-Driven Audience Targeting: Marketers must move beyond contextual targeting to data-driven, audience-focused strategies using programmatic and cross-device data signals to unify campaigns and maximize efficiency.
• Programmatic as Glue: Automated, programmatic buying unifies fragmented inventory, with households juggling six to seven services each. (20:55–22:33)

5. The Power and Challenge of Personalization

• Tailoring Across Diversity: With more data and targeting tools, marketers can localize creative by age, language, region, or culture, without sacrificing the broader brand narrative.
• Dynamic Creative Optimization & AI: These technologies power scalable personalization and efficient creative production.

Quote:
“You feel very different in the morning than you do at the end of the day or for our Quaker hots category. The weather outside is very indicative of whether you're ready for a warm bowl of oatmeal or not.”
—Amanda Corral (26:45)

• Universal Truths Still Matter: Insights that cut across demographics (e.g., “families want to share snacks kids love and parents feel good about”) anchor campaigns even as creative gets localized.

6. Second Screen: Distraction or Opportunity?

• Pervasive Second Screening: More than 200M regularly use a second device while viewing CTV, a behavior that was once a liability but now presents new engagement pathways (ad-to-mobile, cross-screen sequencing).

Quote:
“CTV television is still primarily a lean back mechanism...the phone is actually kind of the entry point into making it more of a lean forward medium.”
—Todd Segal (29:49)

• Enabling Transaction & Engagement: QR codes and cross-device journey mapping enable commerce, information-seeking (e.g., phone calls for seniors), and deeper brand engagement.

Example:
“We did this with, with, with Amazon, right, where ... we're able to add some connectivity. And so even though it is still a learned behavior, I think with getting your phone out and snapping the QR code, at least it gains attention.”
—Amanda Corral (31:51)

Memorable Quotes & Notable Moments

• “Now, the ad experience is what's bringing value back to consumers.”
  Amanda Corral, discussing the inversion of consumer attitudes toward ad-supported streaming (09:23)

• “Really more important in this moment is bringing in real authentic voices into our creative...it's using our patients that reflect our different markets and the communities that we're in.”
  Nydia Sahagun, on authenticity and community representation in healthcare advertising (17:35)

• “Programmatic [buying] is the connective tissue... it's the glue in bringing this fragmented streaming ecosystem together.”
  Amanda Corral, on the role of programmatic in a fragmented world (21:10)

• “There is a universal truth that [seniors] want to spend more time with their physician, they want to feel seen, they want their physician to know them more personally.”
  Nydia Sahagun, on healthcare’s need to balance universal and tailored messaging (27:35)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• CTV Demographics & Seniors' Adoption — 04:27 (Nydia), 05:50 (Amanda/Todd)
• Ad-Supported Streaming Shift — 09:21 (Amanda), 11:10 (Todd), 11:58 (Nydia)
• Evolving Creative & Authencity — 14:08 (Amanda), 17:01 (Todd), 17:35 (Nydia), 18:36 (Amanda)
• Content Fragmentation & Programmatic — 20:07 (Todd), 20:55 (Amanda), 22:33 (Nydia)
• Personalization & Dynamic Creative — 23:44 (Nydia), 24:54 (Todd), 25:29 (Amanda), 27:35 (Nydia)
• Second-Screen Engagements — 29:49 (Todd), 30:52 (Amanda), 32:50 (Nydia), 33:36 (Amanda)

Tone and Language

The conversation remains highly collaborative, insightful, and practical, reflecting both excitement and realism about the present and future of CTV. Panelists’ language is candid, at times playful (“What a time to be a marketer when people are asking for ads!”), and always focused on actionable strategies and lessons learned.

Closing Thoughts

The episode shines a light on how CTV is now the mass reach medium, changing the mechanics and creative of advertising. Marketers must embrace data, authenticity, multi-format creative, and cross-device journeys to win in a fragmented, audience-driven streaming universe.

Final note: The second screen phenomenon, once an obstacle, is now seen as a bridge—unlocking deeper engagement and commerce opportunities for brands that adapt smartly.

Listen to This Episode if You Want:

• A data-rich, practical look at CTV and streaming’s impact heading into 2026
• Real-world strategies from major brands on reaching diverse audiences
• Insight on creative trends and new ad formats in streaming TV
• Guidance on navigating fragmentation and leveraging personalization
• Tips for turning second-screen behaviors into brand advantage

Panelists: Amanda Corral, Nydia Sahagun, Todd Segal
Host: Ethan Kramer-Flood
Podcast: Behind the Numbers (EMARKETER)

This summary excludes all advertisements, introductions, and outros, focusing entirely on the content delivered by the panelists.