LONDON, June 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pixalate, a global ad fraud and privacy compliance platform, today launched the OpenEPG™ Index 1.0. Updated on a monthly basis, this free, publicly-available ranking represents the programmatic advertising industry’s first public benchmark of streaming TV content driven by real-world U.S. open programmatic ad spend and U.S. consumer reach across both small screen (mobile) and large screen (CTV) dimensions.
As streaming viewership surpasses broadcast and cable combined, legacy public streaming TV rankings frameworks remain reliant on limited consumer panels or manual, partner-by-partner publisher integrations, leaving massive segments of the modern TV landscape unmeasured.
The OpenEPG™ Index democratizes access to show-level streaming viewership across Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung TV, Apple TV, iOS, and Android.
May 2026 Data Coverage
Powered by Pixalate OpenEPG™ — which has independently mapped 12,875 unique shows across 318 channels to date — the inaugural May 2026 dataset tracks 5,108 shows across 224 streaming channels in all 210 U.S. media markets.
| 5,108 | 224 | 24 | 210 | 2 |
| Unique shows (May) | Streaming channels | Genres covered | U.S. media markets | Screen sizes (small & large) |
Because the Rankings are built from the open ecosystem and require no publisher opt-in, coverage extends across the full spectrum of FAST channels, news, sports, and single-network apps — including the long tail that opt-in measurement never reaches. Incumbent measurement depends on publishers agreeing to share content data, which leaves most of the open ecosystem dark.
How Are the Rankings Calculated
Shows are ranked by consumer reach. Each ranked show is measured across:
- Consumer Reach: Share of Voice of U.S. consumers reached
- Programmatic Ad Spend: Estimated Share of Voice of open programmatic ad spend
- Genre: The content category (e.g. Sports, Comedy, etc.) in which each show is classified
- Device: The device type — small screen (mobile) versus large screen (CTV) — on which each show is watched
- Platform: The operating systems (e.g. iOS vs. Roku) on which each show is watched
- U.S. Market Coverage: The U.S. media markets in which the show is consumed
- Top Daypart: Each show’s most popular daypart on a given platform (EST timezone)
- IVT Rate: Share of impressions classified as Invalid Traffic, per Pixalate’s MRC-accredited detection
Pixalate continuously scales its underlying mapping criteria and more streaming channels, content networks, and platforms will be added to the Index in subsequent monthly updates.
Comparison: Pixalate OpenEPG™ Index vs. Legacy Streaming Rankings
| Dimension | Pixalate OpenEPG™ Index | Legacy Streaming Public Rankings |
| Consumer Reach | Yes | No |
| Mobile (small screen) | Yes | No |
| CTV (large screen) | Yes | Yes |
| OS-level breakdown | Yes | No |
| Long tail FAST Apps | Yes | No |
| Live Sports | Yes | No |
| Local U.S. market breakdown | Yes | No |
| Daypart breakdown | Yes | No |
| IVT / ad-fraud rate (MRC-accredited) | Yes | No |
Unmeasured Consumer Viewership: Where America Actually Watches TV Shows
According to Pixalate’s January-May 2026 data, mobile (small screen) drove 69.5% of audience reach, while Connected TV (large screen) accounted for 30.5%.
| Platform | Share of consumer reach | Share of ad spend |
| Android | 37% | 43% |
| iOS | 33% | 27% |
| Small screen (mobile) total | 70% | 70% |
| Amazon Fire OS | 11% | 12% |
| Roku | 15% | 14% |
| Apple tvOS | 2% | 1% |
| Samsung | 3% | 3% |
| Large screen (CTV) total | 30% | 30% |
Shares represent each platform’s portion of total consumers reached and estimated total open programmatic ad spend across January–May 2026, as measured by Pixalate.
On mobile, Android and iOS run nearly even in audience (37% vs. 33% of total reach), but Android carries a far heavier ad load. This means Android users encounter more streaming ads per capita than viewers on any other operating system. In the living room, Roku (15%) and Amazon Fire OS (11%) maintain a commanding lead on the large screen, while Samsung and Apple tvOS capture niche footprints under 3% of total reach each.
The ‘Invisible Content’ Blind Spot: Live Sports & FAST Channels
Nielsen's public Streaming TV Top 10 ranks on-demand titles by minutes viewed through television — leaving out reach across mobile and the full spectrum of live sports and FAST channels (including premium and longtail).
The OpenEPG™ Index addresses this consumer viewership blind spot, requiring zero publisher opt-ins to capture the full breadth of modern TV viewing across screens.
What America watches flips entirely depending on the screen size, creating two distinct programming and advertising economies:
- Small Screens (Mobile): Skew heavily toward entertainment and sports genres. Nearly half (46%) of small screen (mobile) streaming TV estimated unique reach in May 2026 went to shows in the 'Sports' genre, led by sports talk, fan analysis networks, and studio programs like Yahoo Sports Daily.
- Large Screens (CTV): Serve as destination viewing for reality TV, news, and live athletic competitions. The Reality (38%) and News (26%) genres led large screen (CTV) streaming TV estimated unique reach in May 2026, while live sports viewing was driven heavily by international soccer leagues, including English Championship Soccer, Bundesliga Soccer, and the UEFA Champions League.
And it isn't a national average — the split holds market by market: Sports was the No. 1 small-screen genre in 38 of the top 40 U.S. markets, and News was the No. 1 big-screen genre in all 40, per Pixalate’s May 2026 rankings — a level of granularity national panel rankings don't show.
“Most streaming today happens on the apps and devices legacy public rankings were never built to measure—single-network apps, FAST channels, and live sports watched on phones and Connected TVs,” said Jalal Nasir, CEO of Pixalate. “That leaves the industry blind to both a massive invisible audience and a vast landscape of invisible content. The OpenEPG™ Index brings both to the surface by show, channel, device, and U.S. media market.”
The Rankings: Top 10 by Screen and Platform (May 2026)
Small Screen — Android & iOS (Combined)
| # | Show | Channel | Genre | Top U.S. Market | Ad Spend SOV | Consumer Reach SOV | Top Daypart | IVT |
| 1 | Being Mary Jane | BET | Drama | New York | 7.8% | 10.9% | Overnight | 6% |
| 2 | Indoor Football League | Yahoo! Sports Network | Sports | Los Angeles | 6.9% | 7.0% | Prime Time | 13% |
| 3 | Yahoo Sports Daily | Yahoo! Sports Network | Sports | Los Angeles | 7.7% | 6.2% | Prime Time | 14% |
| 4 | The Ariel Helwani Show | Yahoo! Sports Network | Talk | Los Angeles | 6.0% | 5.5% | Overnight | 12% |
| 5 | Boomerang | BET | Comedy | New York | 3.7% | 5.2% | Overnight | 8% |
| 6 | Games People Play | BET | Drama | New York | 3.5% | 4.9% | Overnight | 7% |
| 7 | Baseball Bar-B-Cast | Yahoo! Sports Network | Sports | Los Angeles | 3.4% | 3.6% | Overnight | 13% |
| 8 | Best Of Yahoo | Yahoo! Sports Network | Sports | Los Angeles | 3.3% | 3.5% | Overnight | 13% |
| 9 | The Kevin O’Connor Show | Yahoo! Sports Network | Sports | Los Angeles | 3.5% | 3.3% | Prime Time | 14% |
| 10 | Andy & Ari On3 | Yahoo! Sports Network | Sports | Los Angeles | 3.2% | 3.0% | Afternoon | 14% |
Large Screen — Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung & Apple TV (Combined)
| # | Show | Channel | Genre | Top U.S. Market | Ad Spend SOV | Consumer Reach SOV | Top Daypart | IVT |
| 1 | Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives | Food Network | Reality | New York | 4.6% | 5.4% | Prime Time | 3% |
| 2 | Beat Bobby Flay | Food Network | Reality | New York | 2.8% | 3.2% | Prime Time | 3% |
| 3 | Guy’s Grocery Games | Food Network | Reality | New York | 2.7% | 3.2% | Afternoon | 3% |
| 4 | Hardwood Classics | NBA | Sports | New York | 2.4% | 2.7% | Morning | 2% |
| 5 | CNN Newsroom | CNN | News | New York | 3.4% | 2.6% | Overnight | 5% |
| 6 | The Kitchen | Food Network | Reality | New York | 1.9% | 2.3% | Morning | 1% |
| 7 | The Pioneer Woman | Food Network | Reality | New York | 1.9% | 2.3% | Morning | 1% |
| 8 | Latest Local News | WPXI Pittsburgh | News | New York | 1.6% | 2.1% | Prime Time | 5% |
| 9 | Alex vs America | Food Network | Reality | New York | 1.6% | 1.9% | Morning | 2% |
| 10 | Basketball Wives | VH1 Queens of Reality | Reality | New York | 1.5% | 1.8% | Overnight | 6% |
Availability
The free public Rankings are updated monthly and available at pixalate.com.
Full rankings — including reach, U.S. media market breakdowns, genre cuts, IVT rates, and the complete dataset — are available in the Pixalate Analytics Dashboard.
Pixalate OpenEPG™ Index is powered by Pixalate OpenEPG™ 1.0 Analytics, which maps 12,875 shows across 318 channels using only standard bidstream Bundle IDs — 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
Contact: press@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.
