Fragmentation in Connected TV viewing is not a passing trend – it is the new norm according to Samsung Ads’ annual Behind the Screens report. Audiences are no longer experiencing CTV as a collection of separate services, but as a single, continuous viewing experience across numerous apps – all radiating out from the CTV home screen.

Drawing on first‑party insights from over 70 million Samsung smart TVs in Europe, and complemented by custom consumer research, the report finds that viewing habits have taken on a fluid new form that more closely resembles our smartphone use than the channel-hopping of television’s linear past.

Behind the Screens 2026 sets out the new realities for brands on keeping pace with a highly fragmented audience – who may be sitting on their sofas, but are still on the move.

Among its key insights:

• Five apps on average were used per household across 2025,  while total app launches rose by 8 per cent year over year to 18.4 billion in 2025. Fragmentation is no longer just about more services – it reflects audiences actively spreading their attention across a wider range of platforms.

• Younger viewers are the most fragmented, using 21 per cent more apps on average1 and moving fluidly between subscription and free platforms. They have even less platform loyalty, following content rather than services.

• No single environment captures the full CTV audience: 24 per cent of Samsung TVs make up 81 per cent of all linear viewing, while 27 per cent of Samsung TVs stream and never watch linear.

• The home screen has emerged as a primary moment of influence. It is the central point viewers return to throughout their journey—accessed more than five times per day—as they switch on their TV and continue to app-hop. Nearly nine in 10 respondents use the home screen to decide what to watch next.

The report captures a market where viewing habits are rapidly evolving to accommodate an ever-expanding array of entertainment. In Q1 2026 alone, over 650 football matches from Europe’s top leagues competed for attention alongside more than 100,000 unique titles on the top SVoD platforms and 90 new gaming releases. More shows, more sport, more streaming, more gaming- all competing for the same screen.

With a growing range of apps and viewing options, audiences are no longer loyal to platforms – they follow content seamlessly across a highly competitive CTV ecosystem that spans streaming, gaming, and linear viewing. Against this saturated backdrop, the home screen has become a vital fixed point. It is the primary discovery moment for content, and a valuable opportunity to capture attention before it inevitably fragments.

“Fragmentation is no longer a trend – it is the reality of today’s TV landscape. Younger audiences, in particular, are driving this shift, using over 20 per cent more apps on average and moving fluidly between subscription and free platforms,” commented Matt Bryan, Director of Analytics & Insights at Samsung Ads. “As viewers follow content rather than platforms, linear, streaming, and gaming have become interconnected parts of a much more complex ecosystem. For advertisers, this creates an opportunity to plan with a more holistic view of the TV landscape. Solutions like TotalView are making it possible to understand true reach and invest with greater precision.”

Additional report highlights:

Viewing choices are led by apps, not channels. More than eight in 10 consumers say content drives their app choices: prioritising freshness, exclusivity and relevance.

Streaming app use varies significantly. Most viewers have multiple subscriptions at once, each serving a distinct content need. Within those subscriptions, viewers move freely, switching between services in search of what fits the moment. The average household uses five apps on average. Of those surveyed:

• 60 per cent keep multiple subscriptions all year round.

• 18 per cent rotate between services depending on what’s available.

• 14 per cent mostly use free or ad-supported platforms.

• 8 per cent only subscribe occasionally for specific shows or events.

TV is still a social event. The living room remains a shared space, with co-viewing the norm across linear and streaming. Linear and streaming viewership peaks at 7pm, while UGC viewership drops away as viewers favour a more shared, big screen experience for prime time viewing.

Gamers are a highly receptive but consistently under-served audience for advertising. Gamers are 88 per cent more likely than average to follow home screen recommendations and 135 per cent more likely to look up products in TV ads. When they watch TV, they rarely watch alone: 72 per cent of gamers watch in groups of two or more, and they are nearly three times more likely than average to watch TV in groups of three or more.

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Categories: Advertising, Articles, Connected TV, Consumer Behaviour, OTT, Research

Tags: advertising, CTV, games, samsung