This one has a clear direction. Streaming has overtaken traditional TV in both viewership and accountability, and the ad dollars are following. Linear still has a real job (mass reach among older audiences) but for most advertisers, streaming is now the default.
The case for streaming isn’t just that the audience moved there, though it did. It’s that streaming can target and measure the way digital does, while linear still runs on panel-based estimates. You can see what worked.
The honest counterweight: linear still delivers enormous reach among viewers 55 and older. If that’s your customer, don’t abandon it. For everyone else, the plan is streaming-first. Here’s the evidence.
Streaming passed broadcast and cable, combined.
The shift is no longer coming; it’s here. By December 2025, streaming reached 47.5% of all US TV viewing, more than broadcast (21.4%) and cable (20.2%) combined. It first passed the two together back in May 2025.
That’s the shift in where attention lives. The living room is now a streaming-first environment, and ad strategy has to follow the eyeballs.
Streaming vs all of linear TV
Ad budgets are leaving linear for streaming.
Where viewers go, budgets follow. In 2026, digital video is set to take 61% of all TV and video ad spend, against 39% for linear, and CTV upfront commitments will pass primetime linear for the first time, $17.7 billion to $17.0 billion.
Meanwhile linear TV ad spend is in steady annual decline. This isn’t a blip; it’s a structural reallocation toward the accountable channel.
Digital video vs linear, by ad dollars
Streaming can prove what linear can only estimate.
Here’s the difference that matters to your budget: accountability. 84% of advertisers say connected TV delivers better targeting than linear, and around two-thirds using a CTV conversion API report improved return on ad spend. Linear runs on panel-based estimates; streaming reports impressions, completion rates, and view-through conversions in something close to real time.
That’s the whole argument. You can target who sees a streaming ad and measure what it did. With linear, you’re largely buying reach on faith.
Say CTV targets better than linear
Linear still owns the 55-and-older living room.
We won’t pretend linear is dead. It still buys mass reach among older audiences: baby boomers spend more than four hours a day with linear TV, versus under an hour for Gen Z. There are still 191.6 million linear viewers in the US, and 42.2% of them are 55 or older.
So if your customer skews older, linear remains a legitimate reach buy. The mistake is treating it as the default for everyone, when the audience and the accountability have both moved.
Where linear still wins: older audiences
Streaming-first. Linear only for older mass reach.
For most advertisers, the plan is streaming-first: it’s where the attention is, and it’s the only TV buy you can truly target and measure. The proof is piling up, with brands reporting outcomes linear could never confirm, from multiple-point sales lifts to large conversion gains on connected TV.
Keep linear in the mix only where it does a specific job your data supports: reaching a 55-plus audience at mass scale. Everywhere else, put the budget where you can see what it did.
Linear buys reach you take on faith. Streaming buys reach you can target, measure, and prove.
It’s fitting that this inflection point coincides with The Gauge, which has become the gold standard for streaming measurement.
Karthik Rao, CEO, Nielsen
Budgets are being focused at the points where consumers, commerce, and video converge.
David Cohen, CEO, IAB
Streaming, linear, or both? Take 30 seconds.
A few taps and you’ll get a straight read on how to split your TV budget.
How old is your core customer?
We put your TV budget where you can see what it did.
MoonSauce runs TV streaming-first, because it’s the only TV buy you can target precisely and measure honestly. We keep linear in the plan only where your data shows it reaching an older audience at mass scale. Either way, every dollar is tied to an outcome, not an estimate.
Frequently asked
Is streaming better than linear TV for advertising?
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How does MoonSauce split TV budget?
Every figure on this page comes from a primary platform, an independent study, or a named industry expert. No competing-agency stats, no made-up numbers.
- Nielsen The Gauge: streaming 47.5% of TV viewing (Dec 2025)
- Nielsen The Gauge: streaming eclipses broadcast and cable combined
- eMarketer: digital video pulls ahead, linear under 40%
- eMarketer: converged TV FAQ (linear viewers by age)
- IAB (via StackAdapt): CTV targeting and measurement
- Pew Research Center: 83% of US adults use streaming
