The data: Prescription drug TV ad spending fell to $2.82 billion in H1 2026, down 5.3% from $2.97 billion in H1 2025, per iSpot.tv data shared with EMARKETER. The decline was driven almost entirely by diabetes and blood disorder advertising, which includes GLP-1 drugs. TV spending in that category fell 71% YoY from $568.8 million to $162.4 million.

Why it matters: The decline doesn't signal a broad pullback in pharma TV advertising. Excluding the GLP-1 category, prescription drug TV spending actually increased in many other therapy areas in H1.

• Depression, bipolar, and insomnia advertising, for example, increased 43% YoY, from $318 million to $453 million, per iSpot.
• And H1 2026 spending is still above the $2.64 billion spent in H1 2024.

Drugmakers are using linear TV more selectively. As their budgets shift to digital, including connected TV (CTV), they’re reserving traditional TV for new drug launches and tentpole events like live sports and award shows. CTV lets drugmakers target and measure campaigns more precisely, making it particularly effective for smaller disease categories that don't require broad national reach.

• Digital pharma and healthcare nonmobile ad spending, which includes CTV, is expected to reach $11.09 billion in 2026, up 4.3% year over year, according to our forecast.
• Pharma, which accounts for about 87% of that spending, is expected to keep shifting toward CTV, with 58% of marketers planning to increase CTV spending this year, per DeepIntent.