Live TV Still Making a Mark for Linear

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 8 hours ago

The first quarter is busy and may be the strongest period for linear TV networks: award shows, college football playoffs -- and of course, the Super Bowl.

For some hard-pressed linear TV networks, the good news is that the NFL again helps to keep it viable.

But at the same time, where linear TV shines, streaming continues to rise. One major programming example could be seen as coming from the NFL’s major conference championship games.

The 2025 NFC Championship Game between the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles -- broadcast on Fox and across various streaming platforms, including Fubo, DirecTV and NFL+ -- averaged 59.8 million viewers, AdImpact says.

This was down from 72.9 million the previous year -- largely because the game was a blowout. (AdImpact’s data comes from a panel of monitored smart TVs sets, totaling 23 million.)

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The key here is that linear viewing accounted for 58% of the total viewership, showing no change from last year, while streaming made up 42%.

Looking at the big live award shows also continue to reveal strength, with linear at a 64.4% share. The “97th Academy Awards” aired on ABC Television Network, Hulu, YouTube/YouTube TV, and Fubo TV, averaging 17.8 million viewers.

“The 67th Grammys” on CBS posted a similar number, with linear comprising 65% of the audience, averaging 18 million viewers.

Another big event was The Trump Presidential inauguration, which averaged 40 million viewers. Linear viewing was at 54% share, with streaming platforms at 29% and YouTube and YouTubeTV at 17%.

Streaming is now a key part of U.S. media consumers' lives. At the same time, streaming is also maturing as a business. That gives linear some room to breathe -- at least for major live TV events. It is just declining at a slower pace than most realize presently.

While cord-cutting is still a major concern, major pay TV providers (Comcast, Charter, and DirecTV) continue to make adjustments by offering steeply discounted “skinny” TV bundles.

That overall persistent linear TV trend is then still important when it comes to the adjustment that brands and advertisers need to adjust to in the coming years.