The 2026 World Cup is being staged in the United States, Canada and Mexico, placing many matches roughly 10.5 hours behind India. The report says key fixtures moved into late-night or early-morning slots, reducing traditional television reach and weakening advertiser demand.
That timing problem was compounded by digital access being placed behind a paywall, whereas the previous World Cup had been available free of charge. A subscription barrier can narrow the casual audience, particularly when inconvenient kick-off times have already reduced the incentive to watch live.
The report says connected TV featured more than 10 categories, 15 advertisers and 18 brands, compared with more than five categories, 10 advertisers and 15 brands on linear television.
The difference was also visible in concentration. Alcohol accounted for 40% of linear advertising volume, with automobiles at 36%. On connected TV, automobiles led with 25%, followed by carbonated drinks and jewellery retailers. The five largest categories represented 93% of linear volume, compared with 57% on connected TV.
That spread gives connected television a stronger commercial story: more room for specialist brands, sharper audience targeting and less dependence on a handful of major sectors.
The report also cites more than 100 million viewers across digital, linear television and social media during the opening weekend. Digital viewing was put at around 6 million, while -related social content surpassed 360 million views.
Those figures underline the challenge for broadcasters: attention still exists, but it is fragmented across screens. The next major tournament will test whether rights holders can combine free access, favourable scheduling and connected-TV targeting before advertisers commit at scale.