Streaming video has rapidly become the most critical source of digital growth for local broadcast television. In 2024, Connected TV and over-the-top advertising surged to nearly 30% of all digital revenue at local stations, up from approximately 10% the prior year, according to Borrell Associates’ 2025 Annual Digital Benchmarking Report.
Borrell estimates that local TV stations generated $2.3 billion in digital ad revenue in 2024 – an 11% increase from the prior year. The report attributes much of that growth to the expansion of streaming ad products and the increased willingness of local advertisers to include OTT in their media plans.
Streaming’s rising influence is reshaping the economics of the local TV ad business. In 2024, 42% of TV advertisers purchased OTT inventory, and nearly half plan to do so this year, according to a Borrell survey of 183 local TV ad buyers. Among those advertisers, 22% say they plan to increase OTT spending in 2025, compared to just 7% of advertisers who do not currently buy broadcast TV.
Advertisers who engage with broadcast TV are also spending significantly more across the digital spectrum. They are roughly 50% more likely to increase budgets for search engine marketing and banner ads. And they are embracing more sophisticated, full-funnel strategies that weave together streaming placements, audience extension, and localized retargeting.
The average spend per advertiser on streaming video ads was $54,195 in 2024, higher than the average spend on social media, direct mail, or radio.
The structural shift of OTT becoming a centerpiece of the pitch is fueling a broader reconfiguration of how stations sell digital. For years, most digital revenue was confined to ads placed on the station’s own website or app. Now, Borrell reports, high-performing stations derive two-thirds of their digital income from off-property inventory—primarily resold programmatic placements and streaming video buys.
This model allows stations to act more like local agencies, bundling their own inventory with third-party placements on platforms such as YouTube, Roku, and Hulu. Advertisers benefit from unified reporting and audience extension, while stations gain access to higher-margin digital products and deeper client relationships.
Despite the gains, the report shows that many broadcasters have yet to fully capitalize on the opportunity. While the average station brought in $2.9 million in digital revenue last year, only 3.5% of local TV entities qualified as “best practice” operators – defined as those capturing at least 25% of the obtainable digital revenue in their market.
Most still hover below the 10% mark, a gap that underscores the challenge facing legacy media: how to scale digital capabilities fast enough to match demand.
Adding urgency is the advertising community’s growing comfort with streaming platforms. According to the report, TV buyers were three times more likely than non-TV advertisers to increase OTT budgets in 2025.
Even as OTT grows, the transition remains uneven. The report notes that traditional TV companies, including major groups like Nexstar and Sinclair, often fail to meet the 10% SEC reporting threshold for digital revenue. The result is a segment that is growing quickly, but not yet robust enough to offset declines in core revenue from traditional spot sales and retransmission fees.
For the first time in the report’s 23-year history, Borrell Associates is making its annual briefing on digital revenue trends, growth benchmarks, and media performance across local markets available to the industry at no cost. All attendees of Borrell’s May 29 webinar with CEO Gordon Borrell and EVP of Local Market Intelligence Corey Elliott will receive a copy.
