Advertisers Cut Broadcast and Cable as Streaming Takes 30% More
Advertisers have pulled money out of traditional television in the United States and pushed it into streaming.
In the most recent upfront, the yearly market where channels sell advertising slots months before programmes air, spending on broadcast TV fell by about 5.3% compared with 2025. Cable TV spending fell 7.7% as marketers cut back. Streaming ad commitments rose 30%, according to a Media Dynamics analysis cited by Variety.
That shift is about where viewers already are. Broadcast and cable still sell large live audiences. Streaming now takes a bigger share of the advance money. The figures cover national US upfront commitments, not total advertising for the year.
Brands are also buying their way closer to the shows themselves. In recent months, Netflix gave a marketing partner permission to place its well-known advertising character into one of its series in a cameo. Zoom hired a news influencer to front a sponsored video series about what the company calls solopreneurs, or people running a business on their own.
The push carries risk when a creator becomes the advert. In August, YouTube golf channel Good Good Golf faced backlash after a 15-second commercial clip went viral. The clip showed a founder shoving a woman. It was meant as a spoof of golfers' obsession with their clubs, Variety reported.
The fallout was fast. Good Good lost its advertising partnership with Callaway Golf. Its chief executive and president both left.
For viewers, this means the line between programme and promotion keeps getting thinner. An advert may no longer sit only in the break. It can walk into the story.
The industry will chew over what comes next in New York. Variety has organised its Experience and Culture Summit: The IRL Advantage Presented by OUTFRONT for Oct. 7 to discuss advertising challenges and opportunities.
