With CTV audiences splintered across thousands of app combinations, one screen still unites them all: the home screen. Antonia Faulkner, Head of Corporate Communications and Ads Marketing, Analytics and Insights EMEA, Samsung Ads explores how the home screen is evolving from a passive starting point into one of the most compelling marketing environments.

By Antonia Faulkner, Head of Corporate Communications and Ads Marketing, Analytics and Insights EMEA, Samsung Ads

How much choice is too much? Gone are the days of five channels, when evening plans were dictated by what was on TV and when. Today, viewers regularly spend more than ten minutes deciding what to watch from a virtually infinite choice, and even so, one in four report that it’s difficult to find content that actually interests them. Maybe that’s you too.

But while consumers are hunting for something to watch, theirs isn’t just idle scrolling without merit: the home screen is a high-attention discovery moment, and a premium advertising opportunity. Unlike ads that can be skipped or scrolled past, home screen placements offer guaranteed visibility – always on-screen, often above the fold, and seen before any content is selected.

In that sense, the home screen is the last true mass-reach moment in CTV – a place where brands are able to influence choice before audiences vanish into individual apps.

Here’s how and why it delivers where so many other on-screen placements no longer can.

Mindset matters – a moment of curated choice

When deciding what to watch, the viewer’s mindset is one of discovery and intent. They are actively seeking recommendations and investing time in what the home screen is showing them.

There’s a natural alignment at this point between content promotion (movies, shows, apps), brand exposure, and even outcomes (app installs, rentals, subscriptions). In a highly immersive, premium environment, the home screen doesn’t distract from intent – it amplifies it. When choice is already on the table, additional decisions feel intuitive rather than intrusive.

Crucially, this opportunity for brand influence converts, and the numbers prove it: a third (33%) of viewers say TV advertising is how they discover new brands and products, underlining the home screen’s role as a genuine discovery engine. Exposure here also drives measurable movement down the funnel, with a 10% uplift in purchase intent among viewers who see brand advertising on the home screen compared to those who don’t.

What’s more, combining home screen ads with streaming service ads drives even stronger outcomes, with a recent study revealing that this combined advertising delivers a 16% uplift in spontaneous awareness for the advertiser brand, compared to a home screen-only exposure.

And when lean-forward formats such as QR codes or GameBreaks are layered in, impact accelerates further, driving a 53% lift in unaided brand recall. When viewers are deciding what to watch, it turns out they’re surprisingly open to deciding what to buy, too.

Brand-safe spaces, where less is more

Under pressure to find audiences across a multitude of apps and platforms, advertisers are at ever-greater risk of undermining brand reputation, and even brand safety. The home screen provides an answer to this, by offering a tightly curated space, a premium environment free from potentially unsafe content. This carefully controlled inventory is also finite, and its scarcity heightens its value. Limited availability increases both perceived worth and actual effectiveness.

What’s more, Smart TVs can draw on content and app-based signals, first-party data and advanced targeting to enable relevant advertising, while respecting essential privacy standards.

The home (screen) at the heart of the home

Streaming now accounts for over half of daily viewing time on Samsung Smart TVs across the UK and EU5, yet TV itself remains distinct from other screens in the household. It’s larger, more immersive, and far more likely to be shared. Viewers multitask less than they do on mobile or desktop, and co-viewing remains common – even as content choices diverge.

While today’s households may no longer gather around a single programme or channel, one thing still unites them: the TV. And increasingly, the home screen is the only truly shared experience within it. In a fragmented media landscape, that makes it a rare unifying space – offering advertisers consistent, guaranteed reach while content competes relentlessly for individual attention.

From lean-back to lead-gen

The smart TV home screen is a compelling marketing environment because it sits at the intersection of attention, intent, and scale, making it one of the most valuable surfaces in modern digital advertising.

This year, with viewers spoilt for choice across ever-more apps, games and platforms, and brands struggling to make sure they’re seen, the home screen will offer an increasingly rare combination of reach, security and engagement.

This approach to TV-based advertising won’t interrupt viewing, but it will continue to invite – and deliver – action. In doing so, the sofa will become a surprisingly effective sales channel. In an age of endless scrolling and infinite choice, the biggest conversions may no longer happen mid-stream – but right there on the sofa, before play is ever pressed.