OpenEPG™ Index, Aug. 2026, Ranking 580k+ Streaming TV Shows: Lifetime's 'NCIS' Tops Large-Screen (CTV) Rankings; Weather Channel's 'America's Morning Headquarters' Leads Small-Screen (Mobile) Ad Spend

National news outlets captured 59% of streaming TV ad spend on news shows — versus 41% for local stations — while News and Reality accounted for 63% of large-screen (CTV) ad spend and News alone took 39% on mobile, according to Pixalate's monthly analysis; mapped against OpenEPG DB™ 1.0, resolved from open programmatic signals with no publisher opt-in.

LONDON, September 23, 2026 — Pixalate, a global ad fraud and privacy compliance platform, today published the August 2026 update to its free monthly OpenEPG™ Index, the programmatic advertising industry's first public benchmark of streaming TV content built on real-world U.S. open programmatic ad spend and U.S. consumer reach — across both small screens (mobile) and large screens (CTV).

The August Index ranks 580,000+ shows mapped in OpenEPG DB™ 1.0 — with the top 100 by measured U.S. consumer reach published free each month.

Key observations:

• Lifetime's NCIS ranked No. 1 on large-screen (CTV) in August by consumer reach, with Lifetime placing three scripted series in the CTV top 10 (NCIS, Castle, Rizzoli & Isles)
• The Weather Channel's America's Morning Headquarters led the small-screen (mobile) rankings for the second consecutive month, with The Weather Channel placing three shows in the mobile top 10 and capturing 20% of mobile streaming TV ad spend
• A&E was the top small-screen channel by ad spend, led by Storage Wars, Accused: Guilty or Innocent? and The First 48; HGTV was the top large-screen channel, followed by Food Network and Bloomberg TV+
• News and Reality accounted for 63% of estimated U.S. CTV open programmatic ad spend on streaming TV shows in August 2026; large screens captured 64% of all streaming TV ad spend
• News accounted for 39% of U.S. mobile streaming TV open programmatic ad spend; across screens, national news outlets drew 59% of ad spend on news shows vs. 41% for local stations
  
  

Learn more in Pixalate's August 2026 OpenEPG™ Index: State of Streaming TV Ad Spend Report for the United States.

News and Reality Draw Streaming TV Ad Spend in August 2026

The Index ranks shows by estimated U.S. consumer reach and measures each show's share of open programmatic ad spend — by screen, genre, market, and daypart. August's patterns:

• CTV ad spend concentrated in lifestyle reality and scripted crime drama: HGTV (House Hunters, My Lottery Dream Home) and Food Network (Beat Bobby Flay, Guy's Grocery Games) dominated Reality, while Lifetime's NCIS, Castle, and Rizzoli & Isles put three scripted series in the CTV top 10
• Mobile split between weather news and A&E: The Weather Channel took three of the top four shows by reach (America's Morning Headquarters, The Weather Channel LIVE, Weather Unfiltered), while A&E's Storage Wars (No. 2), Accused: Guilty or Innocent?, and The First 48 helped the network capture the largest SOV of mobile streaming TV ad spend
• National news out-earned local news: national outlets drew 59% of streaming TV ad spend on news shows vs. 41% for local stations
• News skewed to the big screen: 62% of ad spend on News shows ran on CTV vs. 38% on mobile, in line with large screens' 64% share of all streaming TV ad spend
• Live sports skewed harder still: large screens captured 75% of live-sports ad spend, with Soccer (27%) No. 1 ahead of Baseball (19%) and Boxing/MMA (16%)
  
  

OpenEPG™ Index August 2026 Rankings

Small Screen — Android & iOS (Combined)

Ranked by estimated consumer reach

Large Screen — Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung & Apple TV (Combined)

Ranked by consumer reach; ad-spend and reach figures are share of voice.

All trademarks, service marks, and trade names referenced herein (including but not limited to Lifetime, HGTV, CNBC, Food Network, AsianCrush, The Weather Channel, A&E, Scripps News, CBS, Bloomberg, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung, and Apple TV) are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only. No endorsement, affiliation, or sponsorship is implied.

Availability

The top 100 OpenEPG™ Index public rankings are updated monthly and available at pixalate.com.

The OpenEPG™ Index is powered by OpenEPG DB™ 1.0 — Pixalate's database mapping 580,000+ streaming TV shows across 13,900+ channels and 6,100+ apps — and Pixalate OpenEPG™ Analytics, which resolves TV shows using only standard bidstream Bundle IDs, with no publisher opt-in required.

About Pixalate

Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012 and recognized by UNICEF as a "key innovator" for children's online privacy, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). pixalate.com

Disclaimer

OpenEPG™ data reflects Pixalate's opinions based on open-exchange signals and public EPG data; no assurances or guarantees are made as to the accuracy or completeness of any classification, resolution, or rating. Attributions are for identification and measurement purposes only and imply no affiliation, partnership, or endorsement. IVT metrics follow Pixalate's MRC-accredited methodology and do not constitute a finding of fraud or any violation of law or platform policy. Pixalate's full disclaimer can be found here.