FreeWheel, a Comcast company and global technology platform for the streaming advertising ecosystem, has released findings from its latest Video Monetisation Report. Published twice a year, the report examines the evolution of premium video in Europe* and how content owners and distributors in the region are monetising premium video across different content types, devices and transaction methods. This edition is based on aggregated data from the first half of 2026. 

The findings show:  

• CTV is playing an increasingly central role in European premium video, accounting for 53% of ad views in the first half of 2026 
• Premium video ad views in Europe increased 20% year-over-year, highlighting the continued momentum behind streaming and the expanding opportunity for advertisers in the CTV environment. 
• CTV’s share of European ad views has doubled since 2023, driven in part by broadcasters integrating linear and digital inventory and expanding their streaming offerings. This growth is also accelerating programmatic CTV adoption, with programmatic ad views growing 44% year-over-year in the first half of 2026.  
• Live programming is contributing to the growth in ad viewership, with live ad views rising from 25% in 2H 2025 to 32% in 1H 2026.  

The report also looks at how data is shaping the evolution of premium video advertising, with the expansion of addressable inventory creating new opportunities for more targeted campaigns. Improvements in data availability and transparency are helping to support this shift, while enriched data is increasingly being incorporated into bid requests. Alongside these developments, CTV continues to demonstrate its ability to engage viewers across pre-, mid-, and post-roll formats. 

Commenting on these findings, Emmanuel Josserand, Sr. Director, Brand, Agency and Industry Relations at Comcast Advertising, said: "We are seeing CTV and streaming opening up a bigger, more accessible opportunity for advertisers, bringing high-quality, high-impact inventory within reach through programmatic and enabling businesses of all sizes to compete. To unlock the full potential of this opportunity, European broadcasters must continue to evolve their streaming and programmatic strategies and build the scale, simplicity, and flexibility needed to thrive in this high-speed and increasingly AI-driven media environment."

Methodology 

The FreeWheel Video Monetisation Report highlights the changing dynamics of how enterprise-class content owners and distributors are monetising premium digital video content. The data set used for this report is one of the largest available on the usage and monetisation of professional, rights-managed ad-supported video content worldwide and is based on aggregated advertising data collected through the FreeWheel platform. 

This edition of the VMR explores video advertising trends for the first half of 2026 (1H 2026), building on the insights revealed in the previous VMR (2H 2025) in both the United States (U.S.) and Europe (EUR)*.  

*European countries included: Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.  

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