In this article…
Linear TV advertising — also known as traditional or broadcast TV advertising — refers to scheduled ad programming broadcasted over traditional channels. While it doesn’t dominate the spotlight as it used to, it’s still a significant force in advertising today because of its vast potential to reach broad audiences and create memorable moments through high-profile events. Broadcast and cable TV, both forms of linear TV, still account for around 24% and 26% of U.S. TV viewership, respectively.
As marketers look for ways to combine traditional and digital strategies, knowing how linear TV still fits into the mix can create value for brands and provide new opportunities for broader reach and engagement. This article explores the relevance and benefits of linear TV and how traditional broadcast television can complement digital platforms alongside changing viewing preferences.
Linear TV vs. digital channels
Even though linear TV has maintained impressive viewership, it’s impossible to ignore the growing influence of advanced TV platforms like OTT (over-the-top) streaming services and connected TV (CTV). These digital channels have changed how audiences consume content, complemented traditional linear TV, and created new marketing opportunities.
Each offers unique advertising value, and knowing how linear and certain forms of advanced TV stack up can help advertisers make informed choices about where to focus their efforts.
Linear TV
Linear TV is regularly scheduled programming on networks like ABC or NBC. The name refers to its linear delivery of content on a set schedule, with all viewers tuning in at the same time. It’s great for reaching large audiences during live events or prime-time shows but lacks the precise targeting options available on digital platforms.
- Targeting: Advertisers can only target broad demographics (age, gender, location) but not specific interests or behaviors.
- Ad format: Ad formats typically take the form of non-interactive ads, usually 15-, 30-, or 60-second spots shown during commercial breaks.
- Viewer engagement: Viewing is passive, as ads are shown at fixed times and cannot be skipped.
OTT
OTT refers to streaming services that bypass traditional cable or satellite to deliver content through the internet on platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Peacock. Content is available on-demand and accessible on devices like laptops, tablets, smart TVs, and smartphones. OTT is flexible, so viewers can watch what they want when they want.
- Targeting: OTT offers precise targeting using interest, viewing behavior, and location data to personalize ads.
- Ad formats: Formats can include pre-roll, mid-roll, sponsored content, and sometimes interactive ads to drive engagement.
- Viewer engagement: Viewers can control their experience with the ability to pause, skip, or replay content depending on the platform’s features.
CTV
CTV refers specifically to televisions connected to the internet through built-in smart features or external devices like Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Roku. CTV is a delivery mechanism for streaming OTT content to the TV screen, making it like an intersection between traditional TV and digital streaming.
- Targeting: Similar to OTT, CTV allows precise targeting based on viewer data such as preferences, behaviors, and geographic location.
- Ad formats: Includes pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll, and, in some cases, interactive ad features like clickable banners or in-ad actions.
- Viewer engagement: Engagement levels are higher than linear TV, as viewers are often more active participants who can pause or interact with ads.
A brief comparison: Linear TV, OTT, and CTV
The main differences between OTT and CTV are in their delivery and access. OTT refers to the streaming services providing content, regardless of the device, while CTV refers to the internet-enabled TV screens through which OTT content is consumed. They’re complementary, with OTT defining the content and CTV shaping the viewing experience on the largest screen in the house.
Each TV platform has its own strengths. Linear TV is great for reaching a broad audience with memorable ads, while OTT and CTV offer more precise targeting and greater viewer engagement. Advertisers should consider using a mix of these platforms, taking advantage of each one’s benefits to create a well-rounded advertising strategy.
Benefits of linear TV in the modern advertising landscape
While consumer behavior has shifted toward digital content consumption, the sheer scale and influence of pre-scheduled, real-time broadcast TV advertising makes it a powerful tool for brand advertising within a broad media strategy. When integrated with digital strategies, linear TV can widen your reach, foster brand safety, and boost viewer engagement, to name a few benefits.
Mass reach and brand visibility
Broadcast TV advertising has a massive reach, especially during live events and news broadcasts. It delivers content to large, diverse audiences at once — something digital platforms, with often fragmented and niche targeting, cannot achieve on the same scale. To put things in perspective, there are nearly as many linear TV viewers today (228 million) as social media users (236 million), according to eMarketer. This helps marketers earn brand visibility and recognition across broad demographics and make an impact on their target audience.
Advertisers can also use linear TV to reach multiple individuals in a single household, making it an efficient way to run household-focused marketing campaigns. Linear TV advertising increases the likelihood that a diverse audience residing in one household will see your content.
Brand safety and controlled environment
One of linear TV’s most important advantages is its controlled, brand-safe environment. Unlike digital platforms, where ads can appear alongside user-generated content or in unpredictable and sometimes risky settings, linear TV offers a more curated environment. Advertisers can be confident their message will be delivered in a professionally regulated context so viewers develop a positive, reliable brand association.
Diversify your marketing mix
Some demographics are underserved by digital channels and are more likely to see ads on linear TV than on an internet-connected device. Top U.S. advertisers obtain more impressions among adults over 55 using linear TV ads, with Baby Boomers spending an average of 5 hours and 46 minutes daily on linear TV. This highlights why it’s so critical to diversify your marketing mix with various channels that help you tap into audiences your competitors may not be.
Preferred hosting for major events
Digital platforms are hosting more live events every year, but linear TV is still the most successful and reliable medium for major events like elections, breaking news, award shows, primetime TV, and the Super Bowl. In fact, linear TV dominated the 2024 U.S. Presidential election, with major networks achieving off-the-chart ratings and more than 42 million cable viewers nationwide.
Guaranteed ad exposure
While many digital platforms allow viewers to skip ads, linear TV ads have stayed unskippable and ensured viewers receive full exposure to marketing content. With traditional TV ads reaching as long as 60 seconds, this guaranteed viewership is a chance you can’t miss to capture your audience’s attention.
Viewer engagement and ad recall
Paired with CTV, linear TV is exceptionally good at engaging viewers and facilitating strong recall with high-quality content. A recent study by Brightline found that, even in 2024, linear TV maintains the highest ad attention with an attention rate of 54.5%, surpassed only by premium CTV with a 56.1% attention rate. When viewers are highly engaged with TV programming, they’re also more likely to remember the aired ads, which boosts ad effectiveness and sales potential.
According to a Comcast Advertising study, long-form TV and streaming ads are also twice as memorable as short-form mobile digital ads. This study revealed that TV ads garnered more visual attention than digital mobile ads, as participants watched 71% of the TV ads compared to the 30% they watched on mobile. Ads viewed in the TV environment even resulted in 2.2x higher unaided recall and 1.3x greater purchase intent than mobile digital ads.
Traditional TV advertising, combined with digital, creates a full-screen, lean-back viewing experience that makes lasting impressions and elevates consumer memory.
Current trends in TV advertising
While it’s true that linear TV is facing a viewership decline as audiences shift to digital platforms, it’s not disappearing entirely. Advertisers are finding new ways to innovate within the confines of linear TV and using advancements in targeting, content delivery, and OTT platform integrations.
Free ad-supported television services (FAST)
For one, linear TV is finding a new lease on life through FAST services; FAST channels bridge the gap between traditional linear TV and contemporary streaming preferences to reshape how audiences engage with ad-supported content. The main appeal of FAST is its ability to deliver curated, genre-specific programming combined with on-demand options. Roughly 70% of streaming users know about FAST and have used it within the last three months.
Unlike traditional video-on-demand (VOD) platforms focused on high-profile originals and on-demand access, FAST channels bring back the structured, live grid format that mimics classic TV viewing experiences. Services like Pluto TV, Tubi, and the Roku Channel have captured significant audience share by blending nostalgia with modern accessibility. These agile, scalable platforms help media companies quickly launch new channels, as they did with NBCUniversal’s recent addition of 48 channels on Freevee and Xumo Play.
High-impact events
Certain genres, like live sports and award shows, continue to dominate on linear TV, including:
- The Super Bowl
- Other major NFL games
- The NBA Finals
- The Olympics
- The Oscars
- The Grammy Awards
- The Emmy Awards
These events attract massive audiences and are a prime spot for advertisers. However, even live sports are transitioning to OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Peacock.
Platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and ESPN+ are starting to secure exclusive streaming rights for major sports events and changing viewership patterns, which creates fiercer competition for linear TV. On the flip side, marketers have new opportunities in OTT environments to enjoy the reach of traditional TV advertising with more precise targeting.
Linear programmatic TV
While linear TV faces growing competition from digital channels, it’s adapting to meet marketers’ needs through innovations like linear programmatic TV. This approach automates the buying and placement of ads on traditional TV so advertisers can apply data-driven insights for more precise targeting.
Unlike traditional linear ad buys, which rely on fixed schedules and broad audience demographics, programmatic technology allows for greater efficiency, flexibility, and strategic alignment. Recent forecasts show linear programmatic TV growing steadily throughout 2025 and being a valuable transitional tool that combines linear TV’s reach with digital platforms’ personalization and measurability.
Cloud TV
Cloud TV modernizes the traditional TV advertising experience by combining its established infrastructure with the best features of digital streaming and OTT. Companies like Vodafone and Viacom18 are transforming linear TV into a more flexible and scalable cloud-based service that delivers linear content alongside streaming options. Users can now conveniently access live TV and on-demand content from one interface.
Currently, platforms like YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV blend linear broadcasts with OTT streaming in the cloud so that viewers can watch traditional TV channels and access on-demand shows all in one place. This means advertisers can deliver targeted, personalized messages to the right audiences without losing the large-scale reach of linear TV and engage people across live TV and digital content.
Addressable TV and advanced targeting
Linear TV has always been limited by broad targeting, showing the same ad to everyone, no matter who’s watching. Addressable TV changes the game, letting advertisers deliver different ads to specific households during the same program so brands can reach the right people with messages that matter to them.
The key to making this work is authenticated audiences. These are viewers who log in to platforms with verified information, giving advertisers better insights into their interests, behaviors, and demographics. This level of audience data allows for smarter audience segmentation and more effective ads based on interests, demographics, and behaviors.
With Experian’s addressable TV audiences and strategic partnerships, you can execute highly targeted and measurable TV campaigns. Using reliable first-party data and universal identifiers (like Unified I.D. 2.0), which link consumer profiles across devices and channels, we help brands reach the right viewers on traditional TV and CTV platforms and ensure the right person sees the right ad at the best time without overexposure.
How to integrate linear TV with digital marketing strategies
Integrating linear TV with digital marketing strategies starts with aligning campaigns with audience behaviors and preferences. Using data-driven insights, brands can ensure their TV efforts complement digital channels to create a unified, impactful experience.
Experian simplifies this process with advanced identity resolution and audience insights. Our identity graph and syndicated audiences can help your brand:
- Link TV ad exposures to online engagement and create a seamless experience across platforms.
- Measure cross-channel performance and understand how linear TV contributes to digital outcomes.
- Use enriched audience data to tailor ads that resonate for relevance and consistency across TV and digital.
We’re ready to help you maximize the effectiveness of your TV advertising campaigns.
Ready to connect with Experian’s TV experts?
Partner with a leader in data and identity to achieve the full potential of your television marketing. Our innovative tools and collaborations with top industry platforms provide exciting opportunities for you to reach and engage your ideal audience. Let us help you transform your strategies and maximize your marketing ROI with our advanced TV solutions.
Contact us
Latest posts
Experian Marketing Services and Data Quality President Genevieve Juillard recently sat down with Zach Rodgers, host of the AdExchanger Talks podcast to discuss the future of identity, the importance of data transparency and privacy, and our recent acquisition of Tapad. Genevieve focused on the opportunity for our industry to reimagine an advertising ecosystem that is resilient and adaptable; one that takes advantage of emerging data and prioritizes data transparency and consumer privacy. She also discussed the importance of advertising strategies that put consumers at the heart of every decision and give them more control over their data. Genevieve shared with AdExchanger that Experian’s acquisition of Tapad, a global leader in digital identity resolution, was a natural fit for our company. Tapad’s approach and role in the ecosystem is very much aligned with Experian’s, which is to develop solutions that are resilient to industry and consumer changes. The combination of our capabilities supports interoperability across all types of identifiers, both online and offline, and will position us to help our clients navigate the post-third-party cookie world. To learn more about Experian’s plans to support an effective advertising ecosystem that will evolve with our dynamic industry, listen to the full podcast Embracing ‘Healthy Fragmentation’ In Ad Tech, With Genevieve Juillard. Get in touch
It’s been over a year since Google announced they’d be deprecating the third-party cookie and in that time there’s been a major focus on two types of cookieless identity solutions. Identity vendors and marketers are strategizing which of these two future solutions best fits their needs so they can achieve privacy-safe scale once third-party cookies are no longer available for use on Chrome. Let’s break down these solutions and the considerations marketers need to take into account when deciding what partners to move forward with in the future of identity resolution. Authenticated Traffic Solutions Authenticated traffic solutions (ATS) are a type of digital identification that asks the end-user to identify themselves via personal information, most commonly email address. Often, you’ll see self-authentication at the point of entry to a website that asks you to create an account or login immediately to access the content you are seeking. E-commerce sites use authentication to keep track of consumer purchases and inform advertising decisions for that customer; and publishers use it to tailor featured content, or, more importantly for this discussion, leverage it within the ad ecosystem for targeting. While authentication can provide very valuable user data for audience segmenting and targeting, it can be limited in scale for a single publisher to leverage and monetize on their own. That’s why some identity vendors have worked to integrate themselves within as many publisher authentication modules as possible, so that they can create an aggregate of scale for the ad ecosystem to tap into. But, even this isn’t going to deliver the reach marketers truly thirst for. Alternatively, Facebook has the scale for authenticated traffic, but they keep their data inside a walled garden, so the utility of those authenticated users is only valuable within the Facebook ecosystem. So how can authenticated traffic solutions increase scale to broaden the scope of identifiers they can collect and leverage? Hint: a few of the biggest players have already figured it out. It’s the single sign-on. Google is probably the largest purveyor of a single-sign on solution that can directly impact advertising capabilities. Can you think of a site you visit that doesn’t offer a sign-in with your existing Google account? It’s a short list. Google has integrated themselves into so many applications and publishers that “Login with Gmail” is just second nature (you pictured the Gmail logo when you read that, didn’t you?). Now, if you’re about to purchase something you found off an Instagram ad, or perhaps a retailer you buy from regularly, you’ve probably noticed options to proceed with your checkout via “Amazon pay” or “Apple pay”. These are also single-sign ons. You’re authenticating yourself through Amazon or Apple to that retailer in exchange for A- the safety and security that Amazon or Apple provide for your financial information and B- skipping the annoying process of manually entering personal information over and over again at point of sale. It’s starting to sound like there’s a lot of authenticated data out there isn’t it? Well, that’s true, but again, Amazon and Apple are walled gardens. Amazon is working diligently to build out their own ecosystem to leverage their content and retail channel data for a holistic offering. And Apple keeps user data very close to the chest, constantly limiting its utility for themselves and advertisers. So what is identity resolution doing about it? The Trade Desk announced their solution; Unified ID 2.0, which promises to leverage email authenticated identity for a truly scaled solution for publishers via Javascript through Prebid. By handing over UID2.0 to an independent unbiased organization like Prebid, The Trade Desk is creating instant scale and trust in their solution. Unauthenticated Traffic Solutions Unlike ATS, unauthenticated traffic solutions do not rely on a log-in to identify a user, but they also don’t rely on third-party cookies. Instead, unauthenticated solutions (UATS) leverage their existing streams of real-time data through Javascript on publisher sites or an SDK (software development kit used by apps). The type of information UATS solutions can collect via Javascript or SDK vary, but it can include IP address, user agent and device level info. But being able to read this information at the point of entry to a website does not make a quality identifier. The best unauthenticated solutions will have the ability to set or ingest this information into a unique ID through an infrastructure with incredibly fast speed that can process trillions of anonymous data signals across multiple channels and devices. And even more so, be able to interpret those signals into a profile using machine learning– all at the moment a user enters a domain. It sounds complicated because it is, but it also has a lot of potential. The identity space cannot rest solely on authenticated traffic solutions, because, as you can see, it could limit ownership and operability to just a few power players/walled gardens. This doesn’t help the larger ecosystem monetize and personalize ad inventory. The right unauthenticated solution, however, can unify cross-device individuals and households at scale, because they’re integrated on the broadest number of publishers/SDKs across platforms, have the best algorithms to build confident connections between identifiers, and are universally transactable across the most common sell and demand side platforms. Think of it as the perfect partner- speaking a common language that everyone in the ecosystem understands and acts on. Today more than twenty cookieless identifiers are available in market for the ad ecosystem, and Google hasn’t even announced a date of deprecation. It’s important to be on the lookout for differentiators like scale and precision. Most importantly, choosing a truly cross-device partner will be key, especially as more digital devices and IDs grow in adoption, like CTV has this past year. Taking advantage of both What we will come to find, once the third-party cookie is obsolete, is that choosing just one of these solution types, or partners, will be a disadvantage. The more the industry comes together to collaborate on solutions, the more apparent it is that both of them have value, and thus employing both solutions will give marketers the best opportunities. Tapad, now part of Experian, recently announced the launch of Switchboard; a module within our identity solution; The Tapad Graph, to create this agnostic interoperability for identifiers of all types, and choice and control for the ad tech vendors and marketers who want them. By instantly creating the ability to partner with multiple solutions, Tapad + Experian is ensuring that all use cases for the third-party cookie live on in our cookieless future. Get in touch
Tapad launches global privacy-safe solution to provide continuity in the absence of third-party cookies Switchboard, a module within The Tapad Graph, will connect emerging cookieless identifiers to traditional IDs, creating a more holistic view of the consumer and driving value exchange within the advertising ecosystem Tapad, part of Experian, a global leader in cross-device digital identity resolution, and a part of Experian, announced today the launch of Switchboard, a first-of-its-kind solution to help navigate the evolving cookieless landscape. Switchboard, a module within The Tapad Graph, will operate as a global, privacy-safe solution to provide continuity in the absence of third-party cookies by connecting new cookieless identifiers to traditional digital IDs for a comprehensive view of consumers and their digital touchpoints. Switchboard will enable interoperability across the growing number of these digital identifiers and the value exchange between publishers, content creators and consumers. Leading digital identity solutions partnering with Tapad, part of Experian at the launch of Switchboard include Unified ID 2.0, ID5, Lotame Panorama ID, BritePool, Retargetly IDx and Audigent Halo ID. Tapad, part of Experian plans to expand support to additional identity solutions on an ongoing basis. In addition to these identity solutions, early partners across the ecosystem include The Trade Desk, Amobee, Martin, ShareThis, Eyeota and Catalina. “This diverse group of launch partners and testing customers will prove that Switchboard is an important tenet for the future of identity resolution. We’re excited to be proactive in our approach to give marketers time to adapt new solutions and test their function in tandem with the third-party cookie, while continuing to give our customers flexibility and control,” said Mark Connon, General Manager of Tapad, part of Experian. “Facilitating access and usage of 1st party identifiers is crucial to help marketers prepare for the cookieless future. Thanks to Switchboard, ID5's cookieless IDs will be available to a wider audience of brands and agencies and enable them to run effective, data-driven campaigns beyond the third-party cookie,” said Mathieu Roche Co-founder & CEO of ID5. Switchboard provides value across the marketing and advertising ecosystem as the need for the ability to support multiple cookieless ID’s across ad tech increases throughout 2021. With a decade of expertise creating digital identity resolution products, Tapad, part of Experian is poised to solve this challenge through innovation and quality, privacy-safe data-driven solutions. “Interoperability is paramount for brand marketers, agencies, publishers and platforms if we want to support an open and free Internet and break free of the stranglehold of walled gardens,” said Pierre Diennet, Global Partnerships at Lotame. ”Lotame Panorama ID’s participation in Switchboard reflects our steadfast commitment to collaborating across and within the industry and providing value to all of its players.” “As advertisers continue to contemplate the future of identity, Amobee is proud to partner with Tapad, part of Experian on this next-generation solution to provide a comprehensive view of consumers,” says Bryan Everett, Senior Vice President of Global Business Development at Amobee. “With the imminent loss of cookies, advertisers must think creatively in order to respectfully engage consumers in a privacy-compliant way and Switchboard can play an important role in addressing their respective identity needs.” Tapad, part of Experian is welcoming identity solutions and Tapad Graph customer participation in Switchboard throughout 2021. Stayed tuned for more updates and information on Switchboard in the coming months. Get in touch