Minimum budgets by platform
| Platform | Minimum | Published CPM |
|---|---|---|
| Universal Ads (Comcast) | From $100, no contract or agency fee1 | About $8 to $451 |
| Roku Ads Manager | $500 lifetime budget per campaign2 | Dynamic, set by bid |
| Disney Campaign Manager (Hulu, Disney+) | $500 per campaign3 | Not published |
| Paramount Ads Manager (Paramount+, CBS, Pluto TV) | $500 to $260,000 per campaign7 | From $7 on its own campaigns; standard $20 to $404 |
| Vibe | From $50 a day8 | $15 to $35 in its simulator8 |
| Netflix (through a DSP) | No self-serve; DSP seat or reseller needed9 | Around $30, up to 40% more for targeting6 |
| Amazon streaming TV | “No minimum spend” and a $10K recommended minimum for some self-service packages, both on Amazon's page10 | Not published |
Checked on each platform's own pages on November 6, 2026. Full comparison, with inventory and targeting: streaming TV platforms for car dealers.
What a CPM buys, and why streaming costs more than broadcast
Streaming TV is priced by the thousand impressions. Paramount puts 2026 standard CTV inventory at $20 to $40, climbing for premium targeted inventory.4 Netflix averages around $30, and adding demographic, geographic or genre targeting can cost up to 40% above the floor.6 A dealer CTV vendor quotes auto campaigns at about a $30 CPM and local broadcast placements as low as about $5.5
The difference is precision. Broadcast reaches everyone watching a station across the whole market, cheaply. Streaming reaches the households you choose, by ZIP code and audience, at a higher price per impression and a lower price per household you actually wanted.
The math that turns a budget into households
Impressions = budget ÷ CPM × 1,000. Households reached each week = weekly impressions ÷ weekly frequency.
At a $30 CPM, a six-week flight, and a cap of four views per household per week:
| Media budget | Impressions | Impressions a week | Households a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| $3,000 | 100,000 | 16,700 | about 4,200 |
| $6,000 | 200,000 | 33,300 | about 8,300 |
| $12,000 | 400,000 | 66,700 | about 16,700 |
Two checks before you settle on a number. First, ask each platform for its reach estimate on your exact ZIP list: if your ZIP codes only hold 12,000 streaming households, a budget built for 16,000 will just raise frequency. Second, keep enough budget in each platform to run the whole flight; a campaign that spends out in week two cannot be measured against a holdout.
Costs besides media
- The spots. Most platforms want 15 and 30 second files at TV resolution. Some include simple creative tools; a store with good footage can cut its own, and a produced spot costs more.
- Platform and reseller fees. Self-serve tools such as Universal Ads and Paramount Ads Manager say they charge no platform or agency fees.14 Resellers and managed services build their margin into the CPM or add a fee, so ask what the media itself costs.
- Data. Third-party audiences, such as in-market auto shoppers, can add to the CPM; Netflix's targeting surcharge is one example.6
- Management and measurement. Someone has to set the caps, read the app-level reports and run the holdout comparison. That is the work Bright Matter does, in accounts in the dealership's name.
- Co-op. Ask your manufacturer whether streaming TV qualifies for co-op reimbursement and what proof it needs, before the flight.