A false choice: Why linear and broadcaster streaming are the drivers of TV’s profit
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The most effective TV strategies today harness the strengths of both linear and BVOD, writes Channel 4’s head of sales.
Life’s never black and white. We all know this. Yet for years, our industry has framed the future of television as a battle between old and new, with decades of linear TV heritage and know-how becoming obsolete at the hands of SVOD, social or CTV.
Framing the conversation in this way misses the point.
Consumers certainly don’t think this way. Audiences move seamlessly between live programmes, catch-up services and on-demand viewing. For them, it is all television. Increasingly, advertisers should adopt the same mindset.
The latest research from Ebiquity and Isba underlines this. Ebiquity has long been one of the industry’s most important independent voices on media effectiveness, and its work with Isba makes a “clear case” for treating total TV as a “single integrated ecosystem” rather than a collection of channels to be managed separately.
In reality, linear television remains the most commercially powerful channel in the TV media mix. The study found that linear TV delivered 57% of TV-generated profit from 54% of total TV spend.
Linear television continues to drive advertising profit. Its ability to deliver mass reach, cultural impact and trusted viewing environments at scale remains unmatched. At a time when marketers face growing pressure to prove effectiveness, linear TV’s enduring contribution should remind us that scale still matters.
At the same time, broadcaster streaming has become an increasingly important part of that equation. Far from cannibalising television’s value, BVOD has expanded it, delivering a disproportionate share of profit versus impressions.
It combines many of the characteristics advertisers consistently seek: premium, brand-safe environments, high attention levels, full-screen viewing and increasingly sophisticated targeting capabilities. The report recognises that it generates 21% of Total TV profit contribution. It shows BVOD’s role as a major driver of effectiveness rather than simply a supporting digital channel.
Meanwhile, YouTube and SVOD continue to contribute to total TV performance. However, neither currently combines profit-driving scale with the quality of impacts or impressions needed on plans that prioritise scaled commercial outcomes as a KPI.
That is not, in itself, why YouTube is not TV. The sharper distinction is that broadcaster television operates within a different regulatory framework, is measured to shared industry standards, and offers a level of accountability, transparency and common currency that YouTube does not replicate.
The most effective TV strategies today harness the strengths of both linear and BVOD. Linear provides the broad reach and cultural moments that build brands. Broadcaster streaming helps extend that reach, connect with harder-to-find audiences and drive incremental effectiveness.
Together, they create a proposition that is greater than the sum of its parts. Their effectiveness is also rooted in something harder to replicate: programming commissioned for British audiences, reflecting British lives and conversations, rather than content surfaced primarily by a global algorithm.
The research also raises important questions about the broader video marketplace. As more viewing shifts onto the biggest screen in the home, advertisers should look beyond where impressions are delivered and focus instead on the quality of the viewing environment, the level of attention generated and the commercial outcomes achieved.
Not all video viewed on a television set is of equal quality, regulation or engagement.
For broadcasters, that distinction remains critical. Premium, professionally produced content, trusted environments, and transparent measurement continue to give advertisers confidence that their investment is working as hard as possible.
The lesson for marketers is simple. The future is not linear versus streaming. It is Total TV.
David Amodio is head of sales at Channel 4