Published August 31
Ad buyers poured more upfront ad dollars into streaming than linear TV for the first time this year, according to a new report, marking a major milestone in the transformation of television advertising.
Streaming captured an estimated $17.2 billion in upfront ad spend, a 30% jump, just edging out the $16.6 billion going to linear TV, which fell 9%, per Media Dynamics Inc., a consultancy that tracks ad spend.
Tinuiti and Ovative, two independent agencies involved in the upfronts, said the milestone reflects the buying patterns they’re seeing this year, though their approaches differed.
Ovative shifted dollars from linear TV as it increased streaming spend, while Tinuiti pushed more into streaming without reducing its traditional TV investment from last year.
“Streaming passing linear in upfront volume industry-wide is a real milestone, but it’s less about linear losing ground and more about streaming earning a bigger seat at the table alongside it, particularly as television and commerce converge,” Tinuiti’s head of media investments and executive vice president, Shasta Cafarelli, told The Current.
The crossover has been predicted for years, but it also reflects streaming’s remarkably rapid ascent. Hulu was the only major ad-supported streamer before 2020. Six years later, streaming has dethroned TV, the decades-long gold standard for advertisers.
Streaming captured $3.4 billion in upfront ad spend in 2020 and $9.49 billion in 2023, according to estimates from EMarketer. Traditional TV has steadily declined, from $20.2 billion in 2019 to $16.6 billion in 2026.
The shift in ad dollars follows a similar crossover in audience behavior. Streaming first surpassed broadcast and cable combined in viewing time in June 2025, accounting for 45% of TV viewing, according to Nielsen. This June, streaming’s share climbed to 49% of viewing time, compared with 40% for broadcast and cable combined.
“It’s all down to consumer behavior and consumer preferences,” Jesse Grittner, Ovative’s senior vice president of growth, told The Current. “The dollars follow the eyeballs, and they follow attention.”
TV powers pump up streaming in upfronts, earnings calls
Disney, Fox, Paramount, Netflix and Amazon have all closed their upfronts, signaling strong numbers.
Fox and Paramount both reported double-digit increases, with Paramount COO and CSO Andy Gordon calling it “the strongest upfront season since the CBS-Viacom merger [in 1999]” on the company’s earnings call.
Meanwhile, on the Fox Corp. earnings call, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said, “[This is] one of the strongest upfronts in our history.” Tubi posted its highest revenue quarter ever, growing 35% as total viewing time rose 17%. The free streaming platform closed the fiscal year with 110 million monthly active users.
Netflix doubled its ad commitments this year and is still on track to hit its goal of crossing $3 billion in ad revenue in 2026.
Disney, which many buyers viewed as having the strongest upfront offering this year, will broadcast the Super Bowl and the Grammys for the first time in 2027, alongside the Oscars, the College Football National Championship and the NBA Finals.
“Our upfront and a sold-out Super Bowl LXI make it clear: Brands see Disney as a must-have investment,” Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, said in a statement.
Warner Bros. Discovery and NBCUniversal haven’t closed their upfronts yet, but both have reported big numbers for their streaming businesses.
Peacock reached profitability for the first time in July, while Warner Bros. Discovery crossed $3 billion in quarterly streaming revenue for the first time.
Tinuiti’s Cafarelli and Ovative’s Grittner both pointed to streaming’s capabilities — including targeting, integration with retailer data, creative flexibility and personalization — as a major reason to push more upfront dollars into the channel.
While there are still challenges with measuring streaming, Grittner views it as more reliable than linear TV measurement. Buyers and sellers will have to square that with a series of measurement updates from Nielsen that will take effect ahead of the fall TV season.
Streaming’s capture of the upfront crown — an institutional, annual tradition within advertising — is another landmark in the reinvention of television. And the industry is betting there’s much more growth to come.
