The benchmark of U.S. open programmatic ad spend and consumer reach found News dominated mobile monetization, while Reality, News and Sport made up 81% of CTV ad spend.
Pixalate published its June 2026 OpenEPG Index 1.0 update, a free public benchmark of streaming TV content based on estimated U.S. open programmatic ad spend and U.S. consumer reach across mobile and connected TV, or CTV (internet-connected television). The June rankings showed NBA’s Hardwood Classics at No. 1 on large screens, up from fourth in May, while BET’s Being Mary Jane led the small-screen rankings for a second straight month. The data pointed to a split between screens. On CTV, ad spend was concentrated in Reality, News and Sport, which together accounted for 81% of estimated U.S. CTV open programmatic ad spend on streaming TV shows in June 2026. Food Network alone represented 34% of estimated open programmatic ad spend on CTV streaming TV. On mobile, News dominated with 64% of U.S. mobile streaming TV open programmatic ad spend, and Scripps News accounted for 39% of estimated open programmatic spend on mobile streaming TV. Pixalate said News over-monetized on both screens, taking a larger share of ad spend than audience. On mobile, News captured 64.5% of ad spend versus 55% of reach, while on CTV it drew 22.5% of ad spend versus 17% of reach, which the company said may indicate heavier ad loads and higher CPMs (cost per thousand impressions). It also said News posted the highest invalid-traffic, or IVT (non-human or low-quality ad traffic), rate among leading genres across large and small screens combined in June at 18.6%, compared with 6.2% for Documentary. Among mobile shows ranked by estimated consumer reach, Being Mary Jane was first with 8.2% ad spend share of voice and 13.0% reach share of voice, followed by WCCO Mornings, The National Report, Latest Minnesota News & Headlines and Morning Rush. Among large-screen shows, Hardwood Classics led with 5.2% ad spend share of voice and 5.9% reach share of voice, followed by Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, Beat Bobby Flay, The Pioneer Woman and The Kitchen. CNN Newsroom was the top-ranked News show on large screens in June.