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While modestly below analyst expectations, the platform’s continued growth—alongside a surge in TV viewership and podcast consumption—signals that marketers are leaning into premium digital video as cord-cutting continues, per our March forecast. Smaller platform Peacock is turning its business around.

TV Media revenues declined 4%, driven by a 4% drop in ad revenues and 7% decline in affiliate and subscription fees as cord-cutting continues to erode the traditional TV business. CBS still dominates in viewership, with seven of the top 10 primetime shows and NFL broadcasts delivering massive audiences.

"Cable TV is too expensive, so we've had cord-cutting for years. Digital pay TV we thought maybe was going to be competitive. Now that's too expensive. These things are free, and they're just sitting there waiting for you," said Cramer-Flood. Reddit defies social media stagnation.

Why it matters: Amazon’s NBA acquisition is part of a broader strategy to use live sports to expand Prime Video’s appeal, especially among cord-cutters who retain pay TV subscriptions for this content (see chart). The NBA deal cements Amazon’s role in premium sports streaming. As traditional TV continues to decline, Amazon is positioning itself as a long-term home for live sports content.

Despite the prevalence of cord-cutters and cord-nevers, traditional TV remains the single most time-consuming media activity for the US adult population. The TV and CTV disconnect likely comes down to demographics and competition from other media. Younger consumers have abandoned TV much faster than older generations, and marketing dollars have followed them.

This is tied to cord-cutting as well as YouTube’s availability and content diversity compared with traditional TV. Children under 12 spend an average of 1:48 a day with YouTube, according to Giraffe Insights and Precise TV. This is followed by video-on-demand (VOD) (1:46) and broadcast TV (1:35).

The increased ownership of smart TVs in Canada (now higher than 50% of internet users) and cord-cutting have driven CTV viewership up, especially among younger age groups. Digital video time spent is almost on par with TV. This includes CTV, plus videos viewed on desktop/laptop computers and smartphones (excluding social media).

Yeah, I mean cable TV is too expensive, so we've had cord cutting for years. Digital pay TV we thought maybe was going to be competitive. Now that's too expensive. These things are free, and they're just sitting there waiting for you, right? Everyone has a CTV. Zach Goldner (16:34):. No signups. Ethan Cramer-Flood (16:35):. No signups. It's just there for-. Zach Goldner (16:37):. No paywalls.

Its Super Bowl broadcast is likely to draw significant attention from cord-cutters for its free digital access, giving Fox an opportunity to onboard new viewers during the most-watched event of the year.

Continual cord-cutting is reducing linear TV ad spending, which in turn reduces upfront linear commitments. Upfront linear TV ad spending peaked in 2022 and the decline shows no signs of reversing. Upfront linear TV spending is declining in tandem with total linear TV ad spending. Between 2021 and 2024, US linear TV ad spending had a negative 3.5% CAGR.

Cord-cutters, cord-nevers, and even those loyal to linear TV are all gravitating to CTV solutions. Click here to view our full forecast for US CTV households. There are many ways to access CTV, but some options are more popular than others. With their built-in CTV-ready capabilities, smart TVs are the most popular device for CTV users.

The immense popularity of paid and ad-supported streaming services, like Netflix and YouTube, has accelerated cord-cutting trends and contributed to revenue losses for traditional media providers.

Cord-cutter households will outnumber traditional pay TV households this year, but some are still watching. In 2024, only 53.3 million US households will subscribe to a traditional pay TV service, while 54.8 million will qualify as cord-cutters. However, some of those cord-cutters have switched to digital pay TV, which means their TV experience has not changed very much.

But what was interesting about that story is that even though you have been hearing about how cord cutters have been growing and growing and growing, and eventually we had to invent this new term, cord nevers, about people who they just skipped right over the part where you pay for cable TV and then eventually cancel, and how cord cutters and cord nevers collectively were growing and growing and people

But due to continual cord-cutting, the best they can do this year is keep spending flat. In 2025, US linear TV ad spending will shrink by 13.3% YoY, similar to its 2023 decline (down 12.1% YoY). Political ad spending will have a bigger effect on linear TV ad outlays than the Summer Olympics will.

Comcast gives details on its spinout of several NBCU cable networks: As Peacock takes center stage, legacy TV networks must adapt to stay relevant.

With cable in decline, Comcast bets on hybrid strategy: Peacock revenue grows, but subscriber slowdown raises questions ahead of its NBA media rights rollout.

Discovery’s D2C business as cord-cutting continues to impact traditional TV revenues. We forecast that cord-cutters will surpass half the US population next year, reaching 58.3% of all US adults by 2028. CEO David Zaslav expressed confidence in exceeding the $1 billion in streaming profitability target by 2025, a positive signal for investors as streaming continues to evolve.

Cord-cutting is another big factor in CTV ad spending gains. In 2023, non-pay TV viewers (the sum of cord-cutters and cord-nevers) will surpass traditional TV viewers for the first time. As more and more streaming content is served on ad-supported services, CTV ad spending trends will track viewership of non-pay TV.