Once upon a time, primetime was appointment viewing. Families gathered around the TV, advertisers knew exactly where to find them, and the 30-second spot reigned supreme. Fast-forward to today, and that tidy world has unraveled.

Audiences don’t wait for shows to air at 8pm. Instead, they’re choosing content that fits into their lives. They binge, they stream, they scroll. They’re watching on their phones while cooking dinner, or skipping video altogether to listen to a radio show or podcast on the train. Traditional TV has lost its grip – and 60% of all viewers now fall into the “zero” or “light TV” category¹. 

So why does TV still eat up such a massive chunk of media budgets?

Audiences are shifting, and advertisers should too. Radio is where audiences – and their trust – already are. Broadcast radio alone reaches 77% of light and no-TV viewers¹. 

It’s time to reassess. Large TV allocations don’t reflect where audiences are going. Audio and digital alternatives not only capture the consumers that TV is losing, but they do so with unmatched precision. The result? Smarter media plans, better ROI, and campaigns that meet people where they are.

The takeaway is clear: As TV fragments, Audio unites. Brands that shift spend into Audio and digital video don’t just keep up with consumer behavior – they get ahead of it.

Case Study #1: National Insurance Advertiser

TV’s ad-supported audience is shrinking, so how do you reach them? For one insurance client, 63% of their target audience was hard to reach on TV. By shifting just 10% of their TV budget into a combination of the Audacy Audio Network and Premier Network Radio, the campaign delivered a 49% increase in audience reach.

The trade-off? They lost just one point of dedicated TV reach while gaining twelve points of total audience reach. TV quickly hit diminishing returns, while adding radio to the broadcast mix unlocked new audiences. This is a budget creation strategy that makes dollars work harder.

Case Study #2: Local Law Firm, Miami Market

In Miami, one local law firm faced the same challenge we see nationwide: TV-heavy plans were leaving huge swaths of the audience untouched. In fact, 56% of the market was difficult to reach with a TV-centric approach.

Step 1: Add Radio. By shifting part of their spend into Audacy radio, the client’s campaign reach increases dramatically – from 44% to 71%. That’s the kind of lift TV alone simply can’t deliver.

Step 2: The Next Evolution – OTT Video. After seeing the power of radio, we show clients the next opportunity: using a small percentage of the TV budget to add OTT. Here’s the beauty – taking just 10% out of TV barely dents TV reach, but those dollars supercharge total campaign reach. Every impression purchased in OTT is incremental, adding audiences you can’t get anywhere else. 

The formula works: radio builds scale, OTT adds precision, and TV keeps its role without overextending.

Streaming TV Share Now Accounts for Nearly Half of Weekly Ad-Supported TV Viewers²

The evidence is in. Traditional TV can’t carry campaigns alone. A smarter mix – shifting just a small percentage of TV dollars into Audio and OTT – delivers bigger reach, deeper trust, and stronger ROI.