New DSPolitical and Catalist Models Help Campaigns Navigate a Fragmented Streaming Landscape

June 15, 2026 / Blog Posts, Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC — The way voters consume video content has fundamentally changed. Some are stacking paid subscriptions. Others are spending more time on free, ad-supported streaming platforms. Many still watch traditional TV, but that audience is no longer the whole video universe.

New survey research from Catalist and DSPolitical underscores the shift. In an unweighted national survey of 5,075 registered voters, 45% said they use streaming more often than cable or other traditional TV services, while only 30% said they pay for another non-streaming content service such as cable, satellite TV, premium TV channels, or live TV bundles.

For political and public affairs advertisers, streaming is already part of the plan. The real planning challenge is understanding where voters are reachable, how streaming complements traditional TV, and how to give strong creative the best possible path to the right audience.

To help answer that question, DSPolitical and Catalist have partnered to launch two new streaming models, available exclusively with DSPolitical. These audience models score voters based on their streaming habits, helping campaigns identify and engage audiences more precisely. 

Here is a breakdown of the two new models and how you can leverage them for your next campaign.

The FAST CTV Ad Viewer Model

As subscription fatigue grows, millions of voters are spending more time on free ad-supported platforms. The FAST CTV Ad Viewer Model helps identify individuals based on their likelihood to consume high volumes of content across free, ad-supported streaming services like Tubi, Pluto TV, Samsung TV Plus, Sling TV, Plex, Xumo Play, and the Roku Channel.

  • How it works: Voters are scored from 1 to 100 based on their relative likelihood to be heavy viewers of free, ad-supported CTV content. A score of 75 means that voter is in the top 25% of likely FAST CTV viewers.
  • Strategic benefit: This model helps planners focus CTV dollars on voters who are more likely to actually spend time in ad-supported streaming environments, supporting stronger reach, smarter frequency, and more efficient audience construction.

The Paid Streamer Model

While many voters take advantage of FAST platforms, a large swath of voters spend significant time in paid subscription environments, where standard ad-supported CTV buys may not reliably reach them. Built using comprehensive, custom survey data collected by Catalist and DSPolitical, this model identifies individuals who watch the greatest amount of content on paid platforms like Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, and more. 

  • How it works: Voters are scored from 1 to 100 based on their relative likelihood to be heavy paid streamers, informed by survey data on platform usage, viewing time, and ad-free subscription behavior.
  • Strategic benefit: This model helps identify viewers who may require a broader digital strategy beyond standard ad-supported CTV, including online video, digital audio, high-impact display, and other channels that can extend reach to harder-to-find audiences.

Why the Models Work Better Together

Paid streaming and free ad-supported streaming are different behaviors, and many voters do both. Used together, these models help teams identify heavy FAST viewers, heavy paid streamers, hybrid viewers, and audiences that may need a different media mix altogether.

That gives political practitioners a clearer way to plan across streaming, traditional TV, and digital, while helping strong creative reach the voters it was built for.

How to Use These Models for Audience Building

Both models are built to be highly flexible.  DSPolitical can create custom streaming audiences based on geography, budget, scale, and strategic need, then activate them through Deploy or managed service activation.

  • Find the heaviest streamers: Start with the highest-scoring voters to focus on people most likely to spend meaningful time in paid or free, ad-supported streaming environments. Need more scale? We can adjust the score threshold to expand the audience while keeping the universe grounded in streaming behavior.
  • Build smarter combinations: Paid streaming and free, ad-supported streaming are different behaviors, but they often overlap. These models can be used together to identify heavy streaming audiences, separate paid-first or FAST-first viewers, or build broader video universes based on the goals of the program.
  • Extend reach beyond traditional TV: For teams already investing in linear, these models offer a clearer way to identify voters whose viewing habits have shifted toward streaming, helping media plans reach more of the full video audience.

Ready to Activate?

The 2026 midterms are projected to bring record-level video investment, with political video spend expected to reach $11.2 billion, a 14% increase over the 2022 midterms. CTV alone is projected to reach $2.9 billion, outpacing local cable TV by more than two to one.

That kind of growth raises the stakes for every media plan. As more dollars move into streaming, teams need a clearer way to understand where voters are spending time, how to extend reach beyond traditional TV, and how to give strong creative the best possible path to the right audience.

The FAST CTV Ad Viewer Model and Paid Streamer Model are available exclusively through DSPolitical as custom audience builds in Deploy or through our managed service team, with no additional data costs.

To learn more about how these models can support your 2026 planning, get in touch with DSPolitical.

Pair the FAST CTV Ad Viewer Model and Paid Streamer Model with our 2026 Primary Resource Package to build a smarter, data-driven primary strategy and reach the right voters this cycle.