CTV Upfront Spend Overtakes Primetime Linear TV for the First Time
Streaming commitments hit $17.73 billion versus $16.98 billion for primetime broadcast, according to eMarketer.
Mariano De Vitto · September 2026
Connected TV has just crossed a line that would have seemed unthinkable only a few upfront cycles ago. According to eMarketer, CTV upfront commitments have overtaken primetime linear TV for the first time, pulling in $17.73 billion compared to $16.98 billion for primetime. The gap is not enormous, but the symbolism is: streaming is no longer the companion buy layered on top of broadcast, it is now the primary line item that agencies, marketers and networks build their annual TV negotiations around.
For years, CTV budgets were framed as incremental spend, a way to reach cord cutters and light TV viewers without disrupting the core broadcast deals that anchored annual planning. Buyers would lock in primetime commitments first, then layer streaming on top to patch reach gaps. That sequencing made sense when linear still controlled the majority of viewing hours and CTV inventory was fragmented across a smaller set of platforms.
This upfront cycle flips that logic entirely. With $17.73 billion now flowing into streaming inventory, buyers at holding companies and brands are effectively signaling that platforms like Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+ and the ad supported tiers from Netflix and Amazon deserve first claim on budgets, not leftover allocations. These services have spent the last several years building out ad tech, targeting capabilities and measurement partnerships specifically to compete for upfront dollars, and that investment appears to be paying off.
Streaming Takes The Lead
Sellers are responding in kind, structuring pitches around streaming reach and targeting first, with linear increasingly positioned as the supplemental layer rather than the anchor. That is a meaningful reversal for network sales teams who have historically led with primetime scarcity and audience guarantees, then treated CTV as an add on line to sweeten the deal. Now the pitch deck often starts with streaming reach, addressability and data driven targeting, and linear gets folded in afterward to round out frequency.
For marketers, this changes the mental model of what a TV buy even means. CTV is no longer the experimental or incremental slice of the plan, it is the default entry point, with linear serving a supporting role for reach and frequency at scale.
Leverage Shifts In Negotiations
This also changes leverage in negotiations. Networks that once controlled scarcity through primetime slots now compete on measurement, addressability and cross platform guarantees tied to streaming inventory. Scarcity used to be the trump card in upfront talks, since there were only so many primetime slots to go around. Streaming inventory behaves differently, with more flexible supply but far more scrutiny on whether impressions are actually being delivered to the right audience.
Expect upfront conversations in coming cycles to center on CTV measurement standards, frequency capping across apps, and how linear fits into a streaming led plan, rather than the reverse. Buyers will keep pushing for consistent measurement across Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+, Netflix and Amazon inventory, since inconsistent standards across platforms make it harder to prove that streaming budgets are working as hard as the dollars suggest they should.
What This Means For Marketers
Why it matters: marketing teams should treat CTV as the default TV buy in planning cycles, not an add on. Budget owners need measurement frameworks built for streaming first, and negotiation strategies should assume linear now plays a supporting role in reach and frequency, not the lead one. Teams that rebuild their planning process around this reality, rather than retrofitting old linear first workflows, will be better positioned as the next round of upfront negotiations unfolds.
The Signal Brief · Mariano De Vitto — Head of Marketing, Barcelona