Is linear TV still relevant in the age of streaming?

Remember the days of gathering around the TV for a favorite show at prime time or catching live sports or breaking news as it unfolded? Linear TV might seem like a relic in a world of on-demand streaming, but it still holds a prominent place and purpose. Despite the rise of OTT, linear TV keeps a loyal audience.

Let's explore what keeps us coming back to linear TV and why.

What is linear TV?

Linear TV is the conventional form of television in which content is programmed according to a fixed schedule and delivered over-the-air, through satellite or cable. It offers a pre-determined lineup of shows, live content, and advertisements that follow a specific schedule. While viewers can choose a channel from the lineup of channels on linear TV, they can't choose a specific show or piece of content on a particular channel — thus providing a lean-back experience.

Advertising is a primary revenue generator for linear TV and offers advertisers a platform to promote their products and services to a large audience at scale. Ads, too, are pre-recorded and scheduled to air at specific times during commercial breaks.

Is linear TV still relevant?

Linear TV has ruled the charts as the go-to medium for content consumption over the last few decades. But the rise of the over-the-top (OTT) content delivery model — where content is delivered over the internet via streaming services or devices — has led to a steady viewership shift from linear TV to OTT. This is mainly because of the flexibility and diverse content choices that OTT offers over linear TV — viewers can choose when and what they want to watch.

According to Nielsen, in the U.S., cable TV and broadcast account for 26.1% and 22.6% of TV viewership – but streaming TV takes 41%. By 2025, adults in the U.S. will spend an hour longer watching digital content than traditional TV. While these stats clearly indicate that linear TV viewership is declining, it may be too soon to say linear TV isn’t relevant. Here’s why:

1. Live sports: Live sports have a huge presence on linear TV, gaining significant viewership. For tentpole events like the Super Bowl, linear TV is the most relevant and successful medium, offering advertisers a massive reach. Reaching a remarkable 123.7 million viewers, this year's Super Bowl was a historic moment as it was the most-watched event on linear TV. The Paris Olympics also attracted 48% of its viewership on linear TV, with streaming accounting for 41%. Live events such as award shows and concerts also continue to be value drivers for linear TV.
2. News: News is another segment in which linear TV continues to be a preferred medium. From local and national to global news, linear TV has been a reliable and timely source of information. During election season, linear TV maintained its dominance. In 2024, 42 million people watched U.S. election coverage, and 880 million people watched Indian election results — both on linear TV.
3. Boomers/Gen X’s doorway to familiarity: While streaming services offer the flexibility of watching content on-demand, linear TV delivers on the promise of familiarity, comfort, and easier navigation, especially for baby boomers. They prefer watching fixed programming with selected shows, news channels, classic movies, and more. The median viewer age for cable TV is 56, and primetime viewership is 60. Per emarketer, baby boomers also spend a daily average of 5 hours and 46 minutes on traditional TV.

This familiarity and lean-back viewing experience compelled the TV ecosystem to replicate the model on OTT — known as Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST). Powered by ads, this model (discussed in later sections), further enhances the experience by offering personalization and interactivity. 

WATCH: The state of sports viewership

What’s the difference between linear TV, streaming, OTT, and CTV?

Now that we've covered what linear TV is, let's dive into what streaming TV, OTT, and CTV mean and how they are different.

Streaming: Streaming refers to delivering audio or video content to a user's device through the internet. The content can be live or on-demand, giving viewers the flexibility of choice.

OTT: OTT refers to streaming content 'over the top' of the internet across devices like TVs, desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets. A viewer requires a strong internet connection and a device that supports OTT apps or browsers to view the content. OTT services allow viewers to watch content on-demand through various distribution models like:

1. Subscription Video On-demand (SVOD) — where a viewer gets unlimited access to on-demand content in exchange for a monthly or annual subscription fee. Examples include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.
2. Transactional Video On-demand (TVOD) — in which a viewer pays a one-time fee to purchase or rent a piece of content for a short period. This is also referred to as Pay-Per-View. Examples include movies and shows on Amazon Prime Video and Google Play.
3. Premium Video On-demand (PVOD) — where a viewer gets early access to premium content like a highly anticipated movie or a TV show by paying a one-time fee in addition to the regular subscription fees. Examples: Specific content on Disney+, Lionsgate, etc. 
4. Advertising Video On-demand (AVOD) — in which a viewer can watch content on-demand without paying a subscription fee or at lower fees, in addition to watching unskippable ads. Examples include Pluto TV, Peacock, and Tubi.

READ: Launching a successful VOD offering

Apart from on-demand content distribution, OTT also allows linear content distribution on the internet through Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST). With FAST, viewers can view linear content (just like traditional TV) on the internet without paying any subscription fees in exchange for watching ads. Some examples of FAST services include Samsung TV PLUS, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, and Plex.

Connected TV (CTV): CTV is a subset of OTT in which content is delivered on a television screen via the internet. A standard TV becomes a connected TV with streaming devices like Amazon Fire TV stick, Apple TV, Roku, or gaming consoles like Xbox or PlayStation. TVs that offer built-in internet connectivity — called smart TVs — also provide access to streaming services.

WATCH: How FAST enhances streaming's many business models

What is linear TV advertising?

Linear TV advertising involves inserting ads into the channel/network programming at specified slots, often targeting a large audience. 

Advertisers identify demographic factors like age, geography, gender, and viewing habits to describe the Designated Market Area (DMA). Once finalized, they select the specific channels, gauge the popularity of the shows, and set time slots that align with viewers' preferences to attract the right audiences and gain maximum reach. 

Advertisers then purchase 15-, 30-, or 60-second ads and get them scheduled per the requirement. 

Once aired, the performance is tracked based on metrics like reach, frequency, and Gross Rating Points (how much exposure an ad has received).

LEARN MORE: From linear to FAST with Evan Shapiro 

Benefits of linear TV advertising

Whether it is Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ campaign or Dove’s ‘Evolution’ campaign, ads continue to make their mark on society. And linear TV is still a promising medium for this. Here’s why:

1. Broader reach: Linear TV provides advertisers with an expansive reach that most other mediums can’t offer. Prime-time shows can reach a highly engaged audience, which can mean higher purchase intent.
2. Higher credibility: Linear TV ads, placed alongside high-quality, professionally produced content, come across as credible and are brand-safe. Compared with social media platforms or websites, linear TV ads are better perceived by the audience, enhancing brand perception.
3. Lasting impact and recall: Multimedia storytelling comprising striking visuals, memorable soundtracks, or a catchy punchline keeps these ads on top of mind. It also gives brands a platform to connect with audiences authentically, building a strong brand identity.
4. Co-viewing: Reaching the largest screen in the house that the whole family watches means gaining more ad impressions for the same cost. 

While the advantages of linear TV advertising are prevalent, factors like lack of precise targeting, higher costs, lack of in-depth visibility into metrics, and declining viewership continue to be significant challenges that need to be addressed.

This is where CTV advertising fills the gap. 

What is CTV advertising?

CTV advertising refers to video ads delivered to a TV set through streaming services. These services could be on a smart TV or on a connected device. 

With cord-cutting on the rise and a steady viewership shift to CTV, advertisers will spend over $28 billion on CTV — one-third of total TV ad spends this year.

Though CTV caters to advertising through the AVOD or FAST distribution model, FAST is gaining steam because it offers viewers a familiar, lean-back, passive, and linear viewing experience. Plus, it helps advertisers bridge the gap that linear TV lacks: precise targeting based on viewer preferences, innovative ad opportunities that help reach the audiences beyond traditional ad breaks, interactivity, and reliable performance metrics. 

Amagi solution for channel creation and CTV advertising

With well-rounded, cloud-based solutions for channel creation, content distribution, and ad monetization, Amagi streamlines launching, managing, and monetizing a FAST channel. 

Amagi CLOUDPORT, our cloud-native automation and playout platform, helps spin up broadcast-grade live or linear channels for broadcast, cable, satellite, or OTT delivery. It helps manage channels seamlessly, offering seamless media ingest, flexible scheduling, advanced graphics, customized ad schedules, live controls, and more. 

Amagi THUNDERSTORM, our server-side ad insertion platform, helps deliver contextual, hyper-personalized ads on streaming TV and enables content monetization at scale. Apart from instream pre-, mid-, and post-roll ads, it enables the delivery of in-content ads like graphic overlays, L-bands, and more – incrementally reaching audiences. 

Amagi ADS PLUS, our premium, real-time CTV marketplace, helps unlock demand and supply, enabling content owners and advertisers to maximize the value of CTV inventory. 

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