While U.S. Giants Play Defense,
SBS Goes on Offense
In a $95B Market Shakeup, Korea's Top Broadcaster Isn't Waiting—It's Leading
The U.S. TV advertising market is in flux. Linear TV is declining; CTV is surging.
At CES 2026, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal, and Paramount unveiled AI-powered strategies to defend their turf. But while American giants are optimizing, adapting, and pivoting, one broadcaster from Korea is doing something different: opening an entirely new front.
SBS—Korea's leading content exporter, whose dramas dominate both domestic ratings and Netflix's global charts—has just signed a historic partnership with Sinclair to launch the first-ever Korean terrestrial channel on U.S. airwaves. Free. Over-the-air. No subscription required. While others are fighting for slices of a shifting pie, SBS is baking a new one.
The $95 Billion Battlefield: CTV vs. Linear TV
Emarketer's latest projections reveal the scale of transformation. In 2027, the combined U.S. TV advertising market will total approximately $95.6 billion—but the composition is shifting dramatically.
Linear TV advertising peaked at $67 billion in 2022 and is projected to fall to $54.7 billion by 2027—an 18% decline.
CTV advertising is racing in the opposite direction: from $17.3 billion in 2021 to $40.9 billion in 2027, a 136% surge. Extend the trend lines, and the crossover comes around 2029-2030.
For legacy media, this is an existential challenge. For SBS, it's an opportunity.
■ U.S. TV Advertising Market Forecast (in $ billions)
The Defense: How U.S. Giants Are Adapting
At CES 2026, America's media giants unveiled sophisticated strategies to navigate the transition. The playbook is clear: leverage AI for efficiency, unify data for precision targeting, and create new ad formats. It's smart. It's necessary. And it's fundamentally defensive.
Disney: 'Responsibility First' AI and the Shift to 'Moments'
"We sit at the crossroad of storytelling and technology," said Adam Monaco, Disney's EVP of Sales. "That's our Disney difference." Disney's AI approach emphasizes responsible deployment—powering planning, activation, and real-time campaign optimization. RFP turnaround has shrunk from weeks to hours.