FAST viewership is projected to cross 125 million in 2026, yet most local ad plans still concentrate spending on premium subscription platforms. Audacy Head of Digital Marketing Solutions Jenny Sutton says that’s a miscalculation radio sellers are positioned to help fix.
Writing in a new column, Sutton argues that subscription fatigue has created a structural opening for free ad-supported streaming TV platforms, including Tubi, the Roku Channel, and Sling TV, that local advertisers and radio sellers are underutilizing. More than 40% of subscribers report paying for too many services, according to Simon Kucher research, and FAST viewership is projected to cross 125 million in 2026.
The timing of Sutton’s argument lands alongside accelerating data on OTT’s market weight.
BIA’s 10 Trends for 2026 report projects CTV/OTT ad spending will reach $3.6 billion this year, a 9.7% year-over-year increase, as local television and streaming platforms compete for the same advertiser budgets. For radio sellers specifically, the case for OTT isn’t framed as competition; it’s framed as cross-sell leverage.
Many local businesses, prioritizing digital marketing as their entry point, are discovering radio through its strong digital offerings; radio sellers increasingly build trust by first selling digital solutions before introducing traditional over-the-air options. BIA has been direct about the implication: local advertisers are increasingly buying outcomes, and audio has to be positioned inside outcome-based plans alongside video and place-based media, especially as connected TV absorbs a growing share of local video budgets.
Streaming audio is expected to grow 9.2% in 2026, faster than OTT video and any other individual ad format tracked by Borrell Associates, suggesting the two categories are rising together rather than cannibalizing each other. BIA has urged broadcasters to prepare now by refining inventory strategies and bundling OTA, digital, and CTV offerings as radio digital revenue is forecast to accelerate to 5.01% growth by year’s end.
