The news: Linear TV ad spending grew in Q3 despite total TV ad impressions declining, per iSpot data. Ad spend increased 4% YoY, reaching $8.77 billion—but total impressions fell 2.7% to 1.67 trillion. Total ad minutes rose 2.4% YoY to 5.3 million, driven by the rise of sports inventory.

• NFL and college football remained key drivers of growth, with double-digit increases in TV ad impressions. Ad spend on national linear NFL games alone surged 10.7%.
• Spanish-language programming also grew slightly, hitting 4.7% of TV ad impressions in Q3, up from 4.4% YoY.
• Nine out of the top 20 programs by TV ad reach in Q3 were news related, which iSpot said highlighted “the importance of live and perishable content.”

Why keep investing? Despite the shift to digital and connected TV (CTV) for video viewing and the decline of linear ad impressions, advertisers are increasing investment in linear for a few key reasons.

• 53% of marketers prioritize outcomes in media buying—more than value (27%) or verified ad delivery (11%), per iSpot. Linear is still far ahead of CTV and digital in driving outcomes: It far outstrips CTV and digital in boosting brand favorability and message association.
• Even as streaming gains, linear TV maintains an 86% share of overall ad impressions, per a July iSpot report. That accounts for nearly 17 billion daily impressions.
• Linear accounted for nearly 90% of time viewers spent watching ads on TV screens in 2024, driven by much higher ad loads. While that number may be declining, it’s not shrinking at a fast enough rate to justify an overhaul of linear advertising in favor of CTV.
• While ad impressions might be declining, linear generated about six times as many impressions as CTV in 2024 and generally drives the highest ad impressions for top-performing brands and larger campaigns.

Yes, but: iSpot’s report and similar findings still indicate that slowly shifting spending to CTV will be critical in the streaming age.

• Key demographics like Asian Americans find CTV ads more relevant than TV ads, driven by CTV’s ability to deliver highly targeted ads that forge more personal connections with audiences.
• Linear TV viewers are declining, as is time spent with linear and the number of linear addressable TV households. Meanwhile, streaming subscriptions are outpacing TV subscription revenues, while time spent with CTV shows no sign of slowing and surpassed time spent with TV for the first time this year.

What marketers can do: Understand that a successful ad strategy requires a balance— investing in linear to drive outcomes while slowly shifting toward CTV for better targeting and to align with audience viewing habits.

An either-or approach will limit reach; brands need to focus on cross-platform strategies. As linear TV viewership declines, CTV will demand a higher portion of ad budgets—but for now, linear still reaches massive audiences and can’t be neglected even in the streaming age.