Linear streaming comes of age
Opinion
Linear streaming, multi-channel unification, and AI-driven efficiency will dominate broadcast media strategies, says Operative’s CEO.
Broadcasters have experienced several years of major disruption. CTV and streaming have shaken longstanding linear content, audience and advertising models. Broadcasters saw shifting viewership accelerate, with 2025 marking a major turning point in the US and parts of Asia.
There are now more streaming viewers than linear viewers, and other regions will soon follow. Not only are more people choosing streaming over linear, but more audiences are also opting for advertiser-supported content to reduce their expenses.
Broadcasters are no longer in a “wait and see” mode. While 2026 will continue to be marked by the same market changes, it will also be notable for the dramatic shifts within broadcasters and across the media and advertising industries as they evolve to be more flexible, unified, and interoperable.
Three key themes will dominate media company strategies: linear streaming, multi-channel unification, and AI-driven efficiency. Underpinning these strategies will be modular, data-driven technology that brings linear and streaming together without requiring a major overhaul.
Linear streaming becomes the core operating model for TV
Blending guaranteed placements and up-front commitments with digital delivery and optimisation, linear streaming is the ideal compromise for broadcasters.
It is unrealistic for broadcasters to abandon their linear business, underlying technology, audiences and processes. While some core elements are outdated, many in this 70-year-old business remain valuable.
For example, broadcasters want to maintain their control over pricing with direct, up-front sales and packaging. They also want to create more value for premium inventory and provide reach-based opportunities for advertisers. They want to forecast well into the future, not just for the next impression. Simply handing the business over to programmatic automation would eliminate these powerful levers.
At the same time, linear processes and technologies are not equipped to deliver the addressable, dynamic media opportunities brands want on streaming platforms. For that, broadcasters want technology that uses real-time data to package, target, deliver and measure campaigns in a more digital approach.
Leaving the two parts of the business separate isn’t an option. Brands need a flexible, modular solution that brings them together while preserving key elements of both. Broadcasters want to reach audiences across platforms, and they need visibility and reduced complexity.
This year, broadcasters will work on enabling hybrid currency, audience-based selling, and truly cross-platform campaigns with a “linear streaming” strategy that marries the best of both with a unified core – data, workflow and insights.
Broadcast reorganises rather than retreats
Linear TV will remain a premium revenue anchor for years, but requires tighter integration with digital systems, data, and pricing models to compete in a multi-platform world. In 2025, this became crystal clear to broadcasters that had previously only dabbled in convergence across their business.
It is not enough to have data and technology to support streaming; the entire company needs to shift its processes, strategies, and products to remain competitive. Success requires broadcast organisations to rethink their business model from the top down.
Many broadcasters will find that the best way to reorganise is to centre on a unified core, with all products, data, and audience insights housed together and shared across the organisation.
In addition, broadcasters can streamline workflows across multichannel sales and proposals, operations, delivery, and reporting. Redundancy and duplication from maintaining separate data, products, and workflows across platforms are costly and don’t deliver what advertisers want.
Organising around a centralised workflow will not only streamline the company’s processes but also bring teams together to work collaboratively on behalf of advertiser clients. More than ever, brands are seeking to reach audiences across channels seamlessly. Only broadcasters with unified products and teams can execute effectively.
AI evolves from curiosity to a commercial engine
Another disruptor emerged at the same time broadcasters reached a streaming tipping point: AI.
With AI technology, broadcasters can tap into mountains of data across platforms, organise complex product catalogues, manage cross-channel campaigns, and gain valuable insights without years of integrations and implementations.
AI is already driving measurable gains in sales operations, forecasting, trafficking, and execution without requiring broadcasters to rip and replace legacy infrastructure.
This trend will accelerate in 2026, as broadcasters move from experimentation mode to full-scale implementation. AI can reduce the time it takes to build proposals for brands across the entire organisation, not just for a few concepts.
AI can eliminate data entry and siloed complexity with automated operations workflows, not just a few specific campaigns. AI can analyse large volumes of company, campaign, and audience data to generate more accurate forecasts, deliver real-time reports, and surface opportunities to improve company efficiency and drive revenue growth.
Moving forward with confidence
This year, broadcasters that focus on fundamentals will see significant performance gains. Broadcasters will gain significant value from improving efficiency and intelligence. Automated workflows that eliminate time-consuming manual tasks will speed response times to advertisers and bring campaigns live.
Unified data will make it easier to price and package offerings and to optimise across platforms, helping advertisers reach their audiences. Interoperable, modular technology enhancements will enable quick, seamless connection between linear and streaming.
Broadcasters don’t need a grand vision of the future in order to see measurable gains. Too often, those massive strategies take so long to implement that the market evolves around them.
Instead, broadcasters need to focus on improving efficiency, unifying data, and automating workflows. More changes will follow, and companies with an agile, flexible approach will be best positioned to pivot again.
Mike Napodano is the CEO of Operative.