Small Advertisers = The Future of Streaming

Five big questions re: the number of TV advertisers:
1) How many advertisers buy linear TV?
2) Is the number of TV advertisers growing?
3) What share of ad spend goes to linear + streaming (aka convergent TV) advertising?
4) What’s the upside of new TV advertisers?
5) Why is streaming advertising a great fit for local advertisers?

Setting the table: MNTN’s S-1 filing says it out loud: local and small businesses (SMBs) are the next big wave in streaming TV ads.

Why this matters: National brands rule linear TV today. But streaming’s real growth? The millions of businesses that’ve never touched TV — until now.

Mr. Screens’ Crystal Ball: Streaming will be a $100B market powered by 200K+ advertisers.

The rule of 100: One of the three primary frameworks from my book centered on the impact of matching TV ad inventory (valuable) with all video advertisers (100 times larger).

1) 100% of TV will be streamed
2) 100% of TV advertising will be streamed
3) 100X advertiser base vs. national TV today
4) $100 CPMs
5) $100B TV ad market in the U.S.

How many advertisers buy linear TV?

Total number of linear TV advertisers:
1) Local TV - 250 - 2K (< 1%)
2) National TV - 214K (99%)
3) Total - 214K - 216K

👉 Most TV ad dollars come from national brands.

Is the number of TV advertisers growing?

Quick answer: Yes, especially local businesses joining streaming.

Room to grow: 88% of local advertisers didn’t buy any digital video ads last year. That’s a massive opportunity.

What share of ad spend goes to linear + streaming (aka convergent TV) advertising?

Quick math on convergent TV share of U.S. ad spend:
1) $422B in total US ad spend
2) $85B in U.S. convergent TV ad spend
3) 20% of U.S. advertising goes to convergent TV

Flashback: The 2025 Video Ad Market

Share of U.S. ad spend:
1) Linear TV - 12%
2) Streaming TV - 8%

What’s the upside of new TV advertisers?

Quick math on potential spend from new TV advertisers:
1) Assume no linear TV (streaming only)
2) 1.5M companies with 10–500 employees
3) $8M avg. revenue → $800K in ad spend (10% of revenue) per company
4) If 8% goes to streaming = $64K of streaming advertising per company

Total potential: $95B in streaming TV ad spend

‼️ That’s 3X today’s total ($33B)

Even reaching just ⅓ of this would reshape the market.

Why is streaming advertising a great fit for local advertisers?

 Quick answer: Local streaming is a great fit due to lower budgets (test and learn) and zip code targeting.

Example: Using a 30-mile radius can reduce CPMs by 91%.

Flashback: Now Streaming: The Future of Local TV is Here

Bottom line: Local is the next big wave for streaming TV. The market is wide open, and the dollars are real.