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CES 2026: Trust, Attention, and Why TV Still Sets the Standard
Last week, our team attended CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Across keynotes, booths, and side conversations, one consistent signal emerged: technology is moving beyond its novelty phase. The focus has shifted from what products can do to how reliably they work, how much they are trusted, and how clearly their value can be proven.
That shift has direct implications for advertising. The companies that win next won’t be the ones that claim the most reach. They’ll be the ones who can show what their marketing actually delivered.
Here are the most important themes we saw at CES, and why TV and streaming TV align with each one when they are planned and measured correctly.
AI Became the Default Layer, So Marketing Has to Move From Claims to Proof
AI was everywhere at CES, but the conversation has changed. The emphasis is no longer on novelty. It focuses on reliability, safety, governance, and privacy.
When every company can say “AI-powered,” differentiation depends on what you can verify. That is where TV performs differently from most channels. TV operates in premium, high-attention environments that support trust at scale. When paired with outcomes-based measurement, it can connect exposure to real business impact, such as site visits, conversions, and sales lift.
The implication for marketers is straightforward. Lead less with technology language and more with standards:
- who you reached, and how you verified it
- what changed, and how it was measured
- what it cost to drive incremental growth
This is where standards-based TV buying performs best: real audiences, real outcomes, and evidence that holds up.
Physical AI Went Mainstream, Raising the Stakes for Attention and Trust
Robotics and “physical AI” moved well beyond demos at CES. Automotive, manufacturing, and edge computing companies are organizing around real-world deployment.
These are high-consideration categories. Buyers ask basic questions first: Is it safe? Does it work? Who stands behind it? TV is designed for this kind of communication. It delivers credibility at scale through sight, sound, and context.
What matters next is accountability. As categories become more serious, awareness alone is not enough. Marketers need to demonstrate that attention translates into action — qualified traffic, store visits, and pipeline growth. TV provides the stage. Measurement provides the proof.
On-Device and Edge AI Shifted the Privacy Conversation
A consistent message at CES was “local,” “on-device,” and “data kept close.” This reflects rising concern about latency, security, and privacy.
Advertising is facing the same pressure. As privacy expectations tighten, marketers need channels that scale without relying on invasive identity logic. TV and streaming TV can deliver that reach while still supporting performance when campaigns are planned against verified audiences and optimized to outcomes.
The market is splitting clearly:
- some platforms sell the appearance of precision through proxies
- others verify delivery and measure impact
Privacy is becoming a competitive advantage. TV can support that advantage when it is operated with discipline.
Health Tech Raised the Bar for Measurement and Accountability
Health technology at CES moved deeper into biometrics and monitoring, alongside increased scrutiny around accuracy and privacy.
Healthcare advertising is already highly regulated and outcome-sensitive. As the category becomes more data-rich, marketers need channels that can reach patients and caregivers at scale, operate within compliance constraints, and show business impact beyond exposure.
TV and streaming TV are already central to healthcare and pharmaceutical marketing. The shift now is toward proving what TV drove — not just what it delivered. The more sensitive the category, the less tolerance there is for black-box reporting.
The Compute and Silicon Race Reinforced the Need for Scalable Growth Channels
Much of CES focused on compute platforms and chips that sit beneath entire ecosystems. These companies are not selling single products. They are defining categories.
Ecosystem marketing requires three things at once: broad awareness to establish the frame, precise audience reach to drive adoption, and measurable outcomes to justify sustained investment. TV is one of the few channels that can support all three without collapsing into either pure branding or short-term click optimization.
If you are scaling a complex initiative, you need a channel that can scale both narrative and demand.
Bigger, Better Screens Still Command Attention
Display technology continued to advance at CES, featuring larger screens, brighter panels, and more immersive home viewing experiences.
The implication is simple. Attention still concentrates on the biggest screen in the room. Premium video environments still command trust. When executed well, TV advertising is not background noise. It is a focused experience.
This reinforces a basic planning truth: TV remains where scale and attention intersect.
The 2026 Takeaway: TV Wins When It Is Operated Like a Growth System
CES 2026 showed technology moving from experimentation to proof. Advertising is following the same path.
TV and streaming TV deliver outsized value when three conditions are met:
- you reach real audiences at scale
- you manage waste across frequency and duplication
- you prove outcomes: traffic, conversions, sales lift, and incremental impact
The final point matters most to enterprise buyers: to credibly sell this approach, you must demonstrate that you already do it.
That means campaigns, evidence, and results that connect exposure to business performance, not just delivery metrics.
