While digital advertising continues its rapid expansion, traditional media still commands nearly 20% (18.3%) of total US ad spending in 2025, nearly $78 billion annually across television, radio, print, and out-of-home channels, according to EMARKETER's September 2025 forecast.

"Traditional TV is still the mechanism for much of political ad spend," said our analyst Zach Goldner on a recent episode of "Behind the Numbers," highlighting one reason these legacy formats maintain relevance despite declining viewership.

Here's why traditional media continues to matter in today's digital-first landscape:

The slow transition to streaming

Despite streaming overtaking linear TV in viewership, connected TV (CTV) advertising still represents 40.2% of total TV ad spending in 2025, according to EMARKETER forecasts.

This disconnect between viewership and ad dollars comes, in part, from advertiser concerns about content suitability and measurement challenges.

"If you're on YouTube especially, there's a lot of different types of content and your ad can appear against," said our analyst Ross Benes. "Linear TV, you have much more precise control."

Sports content also keeps traditional TV relevant, with Goldner noting that while sports viewership has shifted toward streaming, there's still a significant 60/40 split with tens of millions watching on linear channels.

Political advertising further bolsters traditional TV.

"The majority of political ad spending is occurring on traditional outlets, and we have seen that share go from 68% of political ad spending, going from traditional TV, down to 57%," said Goldner. "That share will continue to move over and go over towards CTV where you can target on the state and local level as well, make smarter choices with your target."

OOH's new purpose

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising commands just over $9 billion in ad spending and is growing at nearly 3% this year, experts say, driven primarily by digital innovation.

"What we are primarily seeing in the outdoor space right now is growth from digital out-of-home," Goldner said. "A lot of that is being propped up right now by programmatic ad spending."

Despite digital growth, traditional billboards remain the backbone of the industry.

"The meat and potatoes of this industry is still old school billboards," said Benes. "Not everywhere in the United States or the rest of the world is dense like New York or London. It doesn't always make sense to have digital signage everywhere."

Radio and print's resiliency

Radio maintains a substantial $10.31 billion ad business in US, according to our September 2025 forecast. Analysts say this is largely due to its continued dominance in vehicles.

• The medium still makes up almost half (48.1%) the time spent with audio this year, we forecast.

Despite some publications like The Onion, Complex, and Life Magazine returning to print to differentiate themselves in a crowded digital landscape, print advertising, which we forecast is currently a $5.44 billion business, is projected to decline by 38% by 2029.

"These initiatives are nice for these companies, but the industry trend is still going to be what it is and that's downward," Benes said.

Goldner added that the infrastructure supporting print has fundamentally changed.

"You're seeing the entire distribution infrastructure that made print viable... collapsed over the years," he said. "A loss of newsstand distributors, grocery stores with fewer rack space, and postal rates have also gone up."

While traditional media's share continues to shrink, its absolute dollar value and unique benefits ensure it remains an important consideration for advertisers seeking comprehensive audience reach.

Listen to the full episode.

This article was prepared with the assistance of generative AI tools to support content organization, summarization, and drafting. All AI-generated contributions have been reviewed, fact-checked, and verified for accuracy and originality by EMARKETER editors. Any recommendations reflect EMARKETER’s research and human judgment.