Radio Stations Forecasted for $7.6B Ad Revenue from CTV/OTT and DOOH by 2026

This shift indicates a significant expansion opportunity for traditional radio broadcasters into high-growth digital ad channels, leveraging their local sales infrastructure. By offering CTV/OTT and DOOH inventory, radio stations can diversify revenue streams and differentiate themselves in competitive local advertising markets. The integration of geotargeting technologies suggests increasing sophistication in local ad delivery and measurement. What to watch next is how quickly radio groups scale these cross-platform offerings and demonstrate tangible ROI to advertisers, particularly in aligning with programmatic buying trends.

BIA Advisory Services revised its US local advertising forecast for 2026 upwards to $184.5 billion, with over-the-air and digital radio collectively projected to reach $12.4 billion (Radio Ink, April 2026). This revision, excluding political spending, is partly attributed to stronger mobile and social media performance, CTV/OTT expansion, and advancements in advertising technology. Digital Out of Home (DOOH) was broken out as a distinct category, reflecting its growing role in local campaigns.

Approximately $3.6 billion of local CTV advertising is projected for 2026, excluding political spending, with CTV's share of local TV-set spending expected to climb from under 14% in 2024 to nearly 19% in 2026 (Radio Ink, January 2026). This indicates a broader move by advertisers to integrate CTV into their local plans, often alongside audio and place-based media for outcome-based campaigns. Borrell Associates analysis further notes that radio stands out among legacy media for its net growth when digital revenues are added to traditional radio, driven by streaming audio, targeted display, and digital OOH (Radio Ink, April 2026).

The increasing sophistication of local marketing decision-makers, with more now having over 10,000 hours of experience and 60% using AI for marketing tasks, demands that local ad sales teams offer integrated, measurable solutions. Radio's opportunity lies in positioning audio as a stabilizing reach and frequency layer within cross-platform strategies, supported by modern proof points like market-by-market targeting and attribution proxies for digital video reporting (Radio Ink, January 2026).