Roku’s Benedict: CTV Buyers Must Follow Viewers Through ‘Entire Streaming Journey’ for Full-Funnel Impact
The battle for human attention is getting harder to win. With consumers spreading their viewing time across dozens of streaming apps and an ever-expanding ocean of content, brands can no longer rely on a single touchpoint to drive results.
That fragmentation is forcing marketers to rethink how they approach the purchase funnel on connected TV. Rather than treating CTV as a simple awareness play, advertisers are increasingly looking to follow viewers from the moment they power on their device through their entire content-consumption session – using sequential messaging to move audiences from discovery to purchase intent.
“More than ever, brands really have to figure out how they’re going to capture that attention across the full funnel,” said Lauren Benedict, vp, global ad sales and partnerships, Roku, in this video interview with Beet.TV at Advertising Week NY 2026.
“When we think about the integration of e-commerce and retail media partners and all of the third parties that allow for holistic measurement, brands really need to be thinking about reaching audiences across the full funnel within their streaming opportunities.”
The operating system advantage
Roku’s pitch to advertisers centers on its position as a TV operating system rather than merely a content destination. The company says it reaches 100 million households globally – a milestone it announced in April 2026 – giving brands access to viewers at what Benedict called “the point of entry” when they first turn on their television.
“Every single time someone turns on their Roku, we meet them at that point of entry, and that’s a huge moment to capture audience attention for brands to show up in a big impactful way,” Benedict said. She added that Roku users spend nearly 16 minutes searching for content after powering up their devices, creating a window for brand messaging before viewing even begins.
IAB Tech Lab’s 2026 roadmap notes that newer formats such as pause and menu ads have been formally defined in its CTV Ad Portfolio, with work underway to enable programmatic trading of these units.
Consistent reach beats appointment viewing
Benedict argued that Roku’s daily engagement patterns give it an edge over individual streaming apps when it comes to consistent reach. According to her, Roku viewers return to the platform an average of 25 days per month, compared with roughly eight days for the next most-used app.
“With audience fragmentation being across all of these big media hits today, whether it’s a live sporting event, a season finale, a season premiere, it’s very difficult for brands to know exactly where the viewer is going to be across their monthly viewing behavior,” she said. “That consistent daily reach coupled with the scale of 100 million global households is a really powerful proposition for brands.”
The emphasis on daily reach comes as streaming continues to dominate U.S. television usage. Nielsen’s July 2026 Gauge report showed streaming accounting for 49% of total TV viewing, with YouTube alone capturing a record 14.2% share.
Connecting home screen to purchase intent
Benedict cited recent research conducted with Omnicom that examined what the study called “TV’s perfect couple” – the combination of high-impact home screen placements followed by sequential storytelling within streaming content. The findings, she said, challenge the assumption that one format outperforms the other.
“The misperception is maybe that one super serves more than the other, but the story is really about the connectivity of the two and how they work together,” Benedict said. “When a brand does use the power of the Roku home screen followed by some sequential storytelling through the streamer’s journey, you actually see much higher recall, you see purchase intent almost increase 6X.”
The full-funnel approach appears to be gaining traction with major advertisers. A Roku case study published in October 2026 detailed Toyota’s first content integration on the platform, which used multiple formats – home screen, pause ads, in-content video and sponsorship elements – to drive an 8.1% lift in ad recall. According to Roku, 98% of the campaign’s reach came exclusively from the sponsorship media.
CTV’s measurement moment
The push toward outcome-based CTV advertising aligns with broader industry forecasts. EMARKETER projects U.S. connected TV ad spending will reach $37.95 billion in 2026, up 14.5% year over year. More significantly, the firm expects CTV upfront spending to surpass primetime linear TV upfront spending for the first time.
Roku has been building out data partnerships to support advertisers seeking closed-loop measurement. In September 2026, the company announced that Horizon Media would integrate Roku TV data into its Blu marketing intelligence platform, enabling cross-channel planning and optimization using Roku viewing data.
“We’re able to use our data and third-party partnerships that allow us for better targetability, better addressability to make sure that brands are reaching audiences in a way that is relevant and moving the viewer down the purchase funnel,” Benedict said.
The battle for human attention is getting harder to win. With consumers spreading their viewing time across dozens of streaming apps and an ever-expanding ocean of content, brands can no longer rely on a single touchpoint to drive results.
That fragmentation is forcing marketers to rethink how they approach the purchase funnel on connected TV. Rather than treating CTV as a simple awareness play, advertisers are increasingly looking to follow viewers from the moment they power on their device through their entire content-consumption session – using sequential messaging to move audiences from discovery to purchase intent.
“More than ever, brands really have to figure out how they’re going to capture that attention across the full funnel,” said Lauren Benedict, vp, global ad sales and partnerships, Roku, in this video interview with Beet.TV at Advertising Week NY 2026.
“When we think about the integration of e-commerce and retail media partners and all of the third parties that allow for holistic measurement, brands really need to be thinking about reaching audiences across the full funnel within their streaming opportunities.”
The operating system advantage
Roku’s pitch to advertisers centers on its position as a TV operating system rather than merely a content destination. The company says it reaches 100 million households globally – a milestone it announced in April 2026 – giving brands access to viewers at what Benedict called “the point of entry” when they first turn on their television.
“Every single time someone turns on their Roku, we meet them at that point of entry, and that’s a huge moment to capture audience attention for brands to show up in a big impactful way,” Benedict said. She added that Roku users spend nearly 16 minutes searching for content after powering up their devices, creating a window for brand messaging before viewing even begins.
IAB Tech Lab’s 2026 roadmap notes that newer formats such as pause and menu ads have been formally defined in its CTV Ad Portfolio, with work underway to enable programmatic trading of these units.
Consistent reach beats appointment viewing
Benedict argued that Roku’s daily engagement patterns give it an edge over individual streaming apps when it comes to consistent reach. According to her, Roku viewers return to the platform an average of 25 days per month, compared with roughly eight days for the next most-used app.
“With audience fragmentation being across all of these big media hits today, whether it’s a live sporting event, a season finale, a season premiere, it’s very difficult for brands to know exactly where the viewer is going to be across their monthly viewing behavior,” she said. “That consistent daily reach coupled with the scale of 100 million global households is a really powerful proposition for brands.”
The emphasis on daily reach comes as streaming continues to dominate U.S. television usage. Nielsen’s July 2026 Gauge report showed streaming accounting for 49% of total TV viewing, with YouTube alone capturing a record 14.2% share.
Connecting home screen to purchase intent
Benedict cited recent research conducted with Omnicom that examined what the study called “TV’s perfect couple” – the combination of high-impact home screen placements followed by sequential storytelling within streaming content. The findings, she said, challenge the assumption that one format outperforms the other.
“The misperception is maybe that one super serves more than the other, but the story is really about the connectivity of the two and how they work together,” Benedict said. “When a brand does use the power of the Roku home screen followed by some sequential storytelling through the streamer’s journey, you actually see much higher recall, you see purchase intent almost increase 6X.”
The full-funnel approach appears to be gaining traction with major advertisers. A Roku case study published in October 2026 detailed Toyota’s first content integration on the platform, which used multiple formats – home screen, pause ads, in-content video and sponsorship elements – to drive an 8.1% lift in ad recall. According to Roku, 98% of the campaign’s reach came exclusively from the sponsorship media.
CTV’s measurement moment
The push toward outcome-based CTV advertising aligns with broader industry forecasts. EMARKETER projects U.S. connected TV ad spending will reach $37.95 billion in 2026, up 14.5% year over year. More significantly, the firm expects CTV upfront spending to surpass primetime linear TV upfront spending for the first time.
Roku has been building out data partnerships to support advertisers seeking closed-loop measurement. In September 2026, the company announced that Horizon Media would integrate Roku TV data into its Blu marketing intelligence platform, enabling cross-channel planning and optimization using Roku viewing data.
“We’re able to use our data and third-party partnerships that allow us for better targetability, better addressability to make sure that brands are reaching audiences in a way that is relevant and moving the viewer down the purchase funnel,” Benedict said.
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