Streaming Is Taking the TV Ad Market. Local Media Shouldn’t Watch From the Sidelines

Read Time: 6 minutes

The television advertising business is moving to a new screen. It looks a lot like the old screen, except the remote now opens Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Tubi and a growing list of free, ad-supported channels.

Advertisers are following.

Streaming ad spending is projected to approach $20 billion by 2029, putting it not far from traditional linear TV ad spending, according to estimates from ad consulting firm Madison and Wall cited by The Wall Street Journal. The shift is being driven by a simple consumer trade-off: many households want cheaper streaming subscriptions, and they are increasingly willing to watch advertising to get them.

For local media salespeople and ad agency professionals, this is not merely a national TV story. It is a signal that the video marketplace is being rebuilt around targeting, flexibility, measurement and consumer choice. The question is whether local media companies will treat streaming as a competitor, a product extension or a wake-up call.

The answer should be all three.

Streaming is now doing to television what digital once did to newspapers and radio: separating the audience from the old distribution system. Viewers still watch video. They still like entertainment, sports, news, comedy and drama. They still gather around big cultural events. But they are less likely to care whether the programming arrives through a broadcast tower, cable box, app, smart TV interface or free ad-supported streaming channel.

That distinction matters for advertisers. If the consumer no longer thinks in terms of “TV” versus “digital,” local sellers should stop presenting media plans as if those walls still exist.

A car dealer does not wake up wanting a schedule on channel 6, a cable zone and a streaming buy. The dealer wants showroom traffic, name recognition, a competitive advantage and a reason for shoppers to choose his store before filling out a lead form. A hospital does not want “video impressions.” It wants trust, reach, service-line awareness and patient preference. A furniture store wants people to remember the sale before the weekend. A personal injury lawyer wants to be the first name recalled after the accident.

Streaming may deliver part of that. It does not deliver all of it.

That is the opening for local media.

For local TV stations, the streaming shift is both uncomfortable and promising. On the uncomfortable side, traditional linear viewing is under pressure. National advertisers are reallocating budgets into streaming platforms that can target audiences more precisely and provide more digital-style reporting. On the promising side, local TV still owns one of the most powerful assets in any market: trusted local video content.

The smartest local TV sellers will not sell broadcast and streaming as separate worlds. They will sell video influence across screens. That means combining local news, weather, sports, event coverage, station websites, apps, OTT inventory and streaming extensions into a single argument: we help local advertisers reach people with sight, sound, motion and trust, wherever they are watching.

Cable faces a more complicated transition. For years, cable’s local advantage was geography. It could target zones, neighborhoods and households more precisely than broadcast television. Streaming now offers its own form of targeting, often with richer behavioral data. But cable still has a story if it connects its audience knowledge, local market coverage and streaming inventory into a more complete household-reach solution. The cable seller who only sells spots on a traditional schedule may struggle. The cable seller who sells neighborhood video strategy can remain relevant.

Radio should not dismiss the streaming-TV story as someone else’s problem. The migration of ad dollars toward streaming reflects a broader advertiser appetite for more accountable media. Radio sellers need to defend audio not as “cheap reach,” but as a daily habit that complements video. A streaming ad may reach the household at night. Radio may reach the same consumer in the car, at work or during the morning routine. In categories such as automotive, home services, healthcare, restaurants, banking and retail, that frequency matters.

Print also has a role in the streaming age, though it may not be obvious at first. As more dollars chase video impressions, local newspapers, magazines and community publications can position themselves around depth, context and trust. A streaming ad can introduce a message quickly. A print or digital article, sponsored section, special issue or local guide can explain it. For hospitals, real estate, financial services, education, home improvement and travel, the consumer often needs more than a 30-second spot. They need reasons to believe.

Outdoor may benefit from the same fragmentation that is weakening traditional television. As consumers divide their attention among dozens of apps and subscription tiers, outdoor remains one of the few mass-reach media that cannot be skipped, blocked or hidden behind a login. A billboard does not care which streaming service a household uses. It reaches people in the market itself, near stores, highways, hospitals, campuses, dealerships and shopping districts. For advertisers trying to build memory before search or streaming exposure, outdoor remains a powerful top-of-funnel tool.

Digital sellers should see streaming as part of a larger convergence. Connected TV is no longer simply “TV.” It is digital video on the biggest screen in the house. That means local digital teams must be prepared to talk about targeting, frequency, completion rates, attribution, retargeting, creative sequencing and landing-page performance. But they also need to avoid the trap of selling streaming as a magic machine. A precisely targeted ad with weak creative is still weak advertising.

The shift toward streaming also changes the agency conversation. Agencies will be pushed by clients to include more connected-TV inventory because it sounds modern, measurable and closer to consumer behavior. That is reasonable. But agencies should be cautious about treating streaming as a one-size-fits-all replacement for local media. The best plans will blend streaming with the rest of the local media ecosystem.

Streaming can reach the cord-cutter.
Broadcast TV can deliver local credibility and scale.
Cable can target geography and households.
Radio can build frequency and companionship.
Print can provide context and authority.
Outdoor can create public visibility and memory.
Digital can convert interest into action.

The important point is not that one medium wins. It is that the consumer journey has become too fragmented for any one medium to carry the full load.

That is especially true as streaming platforms load up on advertising. What began as a mostly ad-free escape is becoming a new version of commercial television, only with more targeting and more data. Consumers moved to streaming partly for control. As platforms raise prices and push cheaper ad-supported plans, viewers are accepting ads again, but on different terms. They expect lighter ad loads, better relevance and fewer interruptions.

That creates a creative challenge. The same 30-second spot that ran for years on linear television may not work as well in a streaming environment where the consumer is more intentional and the platform is more personalized. Local advertisers need creative built for attention, not merely transferred from one screen to another.

This is where local media companies can provide value beyond inventory. They can help advertisers adapt the message. A local furniture store may need a broad awareness message on TV, a sharper offer on streaming, a radio reminder before the weekend, an outdoor board near the retail corridor, a print insert with details and a digital retargeting campaign to close the loop. That is not a media buy. It is a local sales system.

The danger for local sellers is to respond defensively. “Streaming is taking our money” is not a strategy. “We can help you use streaming as part of a smarter local plan” is.

In many markets, local advertisers are still confused by connected TV. They hear terms such as CTV, OTT, FAST channels, programmatic video, premium inventory and audience targeting. They may not know what they are buying, where the ad will run, how often the same household will see it, or whether the reporting tells the whole story. That confusion creates an opportunity for trusted local media and agencies to become translators.

The best sales conversation starts with the advertiser’s customer, not with the platform.

Who are we trying to reach?
Where are they watching?
What do they already know about your brand?
What do they need to believe before they respond?
Which media build awareness?
Which media reinforce trust?
Which media create urgency?
Which media capture demand?

Streaming is a strong answer to some of those questions. It is not the answer to all of them.

The rise of streaming also gives local media sellers a chance to revive an old truth: advertising works best when it builds memory before the buying moment. A consumer does not choose a bank, surgeon, lawyer, dealer, roofer or college only because an ad appeared on a smart TV. The ad works better when the name is already familiar, when the brand has been seen in the community, when the consumer has heard the message repeatedly and when the offer arrives at the right time.

That requires a mix of media.

The projected growth of streaming ad spending to nearly $20 billion by 2029 is a clear sign that advertisers believe television’s future is increasingly app-based, targeted and ad-supported. But it does not mean the rest of local media becomes less relevant. It means local media must become more integrated, more accountable and more fluent in how consumers actually move through their day.

The television ad market may be shifting to streaming platforms. But the local consumer still lives in a market, drives its roads, listens to its stations, reads its publications, watches its news, sees its billboards and searches for businesses nearby.

Streaming may be taking a larger share of TV advertising.

Local media’s job is to make sure advertisers remember the larger point: the screen is only one part of the sale.