The data: Pharma marketers spent $1.6 billion on prescription drug brand advertising on linear TV in Q1, down from $1.8 billion in Q4 2025, per data from iSpot.tv. The decline was reflected in monthly spending, which edged down throughout the quarter: $589 million in January, $510 million in February, and $507 million in March.

Why it matters: Pharma brands’ linear TV spending fell 8% quarter over quarter, but investment in tentpole events remained resilient.

• Sports continued to dominate total healthcare and pharma TV ad spending. National Football League broadcasts accounted for nearly 11.7% of spend, followed by the Winter Olympics (3.3%) and men’s college basketball (3.1%).
• Award shows, including the Oscars (1.5% of Q1 total) and the Grammys (1%), also drew healthcare and pharma TV ad dollars.
• Super Bowl ad spending also added to the quarterly tally with three pharma brands—Novo Nordisk, Novartis, and Boehringer Ingelheim—buying into the February mainstream event. But that media buy also drove Novo’s Wegovy spending down from $39.5 million in February to $13.5 million in March, largely due to its 90-second Super Bowl ad, which cost an estimated $7 million to $8 million per 30 seconds.

Implications for pharma marketers: Linear TV remains a cornerstone channel for pharma despite the quarter-over-quarter decline in spending.

As ad spending continues to shift toward digital channels the shift is strategic, not just budgetary. We forecast digital ad spending will reach $26.15 billion in 2026, up 5.6% year over year, while traditional ad spending (including linear TV) will fall 12.1% to $6.9 billion. Tentpole events like sports and award broadcasts will continue to anchor linear TV buys, while digital channels are increasingly used for follow-on engagement and conversion. Linear TV isn’t losing relevance; it’s just becoming less central in the media mix.