The reach gap: why streaming reallocation is doubling household exposure

The implications are clear: brands maintaining heavier linear allocations are reaching fewer households overall. The safety net linear once provided no longer exists.

“18 months ago, advertisers could still catch many streamers through linear buys,” said Justin Fromm, head of insights and thought leadership at Samsung Ads. “That is no longer the case.”

The change creates a competitive opening. Brands that reallocate budget toward streaming can reach audiences competitors are missing entirely, particularly in ad-supported environments that still represent roughly 80% of all streaming time. The opportunity isn’t just about following audiences. It’s about finding viewers who aren’t hearing from anyone else in your category.

Where FAST fits in the reallocation

Free, ad-supported TV (FAST) has moved from experimental to structural. Half of FAST viewers watch five or more days a week, including 38% of those aged 18 to 24. When audiences adopt Samsung TV Plus, their entertainment cable viewing declines in direct proportion, keeping total genre consumption steady at roughly 50 hours a month.

To viewers, FAST doesn’t register as a separate category. Content preferences mirror traditional cable: sitcoms, crime dramas, reality programming and food and travel. Retention bears that out, with more than 90% of Samsung TV Plus users still watching three months after adoption.

“When people use TV Plus, they don’t distinguish it from other ways of watching,” Fromm said. “To them, it’s just TV.”

FAST users also report easier content discovery and more favorable ad experiences than many paid streaming tiers, where navigation and ad loads can feel heavier. For media planners, that means FAST should be weighted as core inventory, not supplemental.

What the transition actually looks like

The path forward requires moving planning closer to where viewing has already landed. In practical terms, that means weighting streaming and FAST environments more heavily than linear in most scenarios, with a 90/10 split emerging as a benchmark rather than an outlier.

The challenge isn’t identifying the change. It’s execution. Planning systems are adjusting to reflect these changes, but many media models remain calibrated for a period when linear could still deliver meaningful reach alongside streaming. Brands that move faster gain access to audiences competitors haven’t reached yet.

Navigation preferences from the Samsung report reinforce what that adjustment needs to account for. Most viewers want personalized recommendations, but also want structure. Nearly eight in 10 rely on recommendations to decide what to watch when they turn on their TV. A similar share prefers live TV and streaming to remain distinct.

“It’s not just about personalization,” Fromm said. “It’s about respecting viewer intent.”

For advertisers, the work centers on identifying where current budgets are underperforming and where competitors may already have a stronger presence. The inventory exists. Ad-supported streaming provides the scale. What matters now is how quickly brands can reallocate to match where audiences actually spend time.

The reach advantage goes to whoever closes that gap first. Planning systems will catch up eventually, but the brands that adjust now are building reach that their competitors won’t match until those systems do.