National advertisers spent a decade chasing digital targeting while local TV sat undervalued. In 2026, that trade-off is being revisited.

BIA Advisory Services values the local TV advertising market at $17.27 billion in 2025, with projected growth of 25.5% to $18.18 billion in 2026. It is a market accelerating while many national buyers look the other way.

Local TV offers something some national buys cannot replicate: market-level control. The ability to increase weight in a high-priority DMA, pull back in a saturated market, or respond to competitive pressure at the local level is a strategic capability, not just a media tactic.

At Media Manager, we see CTV driving a significant part of local TV’s growth story. BIA Advisory data shows CTV accounted for 19% of local TV ad spending in 2025. That share reflects local advertisers adopting connected TV delivery to target their specific geographies with the precision of digital and the creative impact of television.

The buying process is also improving. TVB’s TIP Transaction Standard is standardizing and automating local linear buying, reducing the operational friction that has historically made local TV harder to scale across multiple markets. Easier execution means more advertisers can access the channel’s geographic precision without the manual overhead.

Attribution has also matured. Modern measurement now connects TV exposure to website visits, phone calls, foot traffic, and purchases at the local level. The ability to tie a local TV flight directly to measurable business outcomes closes the accountability gap that once pushed budgets toward digital.

At Media Manager, we treat local TV as a precision instrument, not a remnant channel. When the measurement is right and the markets are right, it outperforms most alternatives.