Australia’s streaming boom shows no signs of slowing, and according to Alex Spurzem, managing director of Samsung Ads Southeast Asia and Oceania, it’s reshaping not just how Australians watch TV but also how advertisers should spend their budgets.
Speaking exclusively to Mediaweek, Spurzem revealed that streaming now accounts for 71% of all time spent on Samsung Smart TVs in Australia. Just five years ago, that figure was a 50/50 split with linear television. This shift isn’t merely generational; it’s foundational.
“Streaming is the new norm,” Spurzem said. “A third of new Samsung TVs aren’t even being connected to an antenna. That’s a clear signal from consumers that traditional broadcast is no longer their default.”
Alex Spurzem.
Linear isn’t dead, but it’s no longer dominant
Despite the shift in the way consumers watch TV, Spurzem is quick to caution against declaring the death of linear TV. “Free-to-air still dominates major cultural moments, live sports, breaking news, national events,” he said. “But the reach it once delivered month-to-month is no longer guaranteed.”
Samsung’s analysis of over 250 linear TV ad campaigns found that ‘cord-cutters’ and ‘cord-nevers’, viewers who have either left linear TV or never subscribe, now account for one in four Australian viewers. This is a growing audience unreachable by broadcast alone.
What’s more, a deeper look at ad effectiveness shows a troubling imbalance: 41% of all linear TV ad impressions are hitting just 8% of households, what Spurzem calls “heavy viewers.”
“That kind of saturation leads to ad fatigue and wasted spend,” he warned. “Advertisers are missing the rest of the market, which is increasingly fragmented across streaming platforms.”
Ad-supported streaming the next frontier
While subscription video on demand (SVOD) services still dominate total time spent, the fastest-growing segment is ad-supported streaming. In fact, Samsung Ads reports that ad-supported streaming is growing 8% faster than SVOD.
Several major platforms, including Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video, have launched ad tiers in Australia over the past 12 months, opening up new advertising inventory in previously walled-off ecosystems.
This aligns with recent Kantar research, which found that Australians increased their streaming spend in Q4 2024 despite rising subscription costs, with many opting for more affordable ad-tier plans.
“Ad tiers are the future,” said Spurzem. “They’re a path to profitability for platforms, and they offer brands access to audiences who were previously unreachable.”
He estimates that advertisers now have access to 40–50% of previously ad-free SVOD audiences thanks to these changes.
Budgets must catch up to viewer habits
One of the biggest hurdles isn’t consumer behaviour, it’s advertiser hesitation.
“Ad dollars have been much slower to move than audiences,” said Spurzem. “There’s still a misconception that shifting to streaming requires budget increases. But really, it’s about rebalancing.”
Samsung Ads’ work with Nielsen revealed that shifting 30% of a total TV budget to streaming could significantly increase reach and campaign efficiency. A newer study by the Video Futures Collective, supported by GroupM and Adgile, now recommends increasing that number to 40% of total video spend.
“We’re not talking about spending more, just spending smarter,” Spurzem noted.
A hybrid future for TV
So what’s next for Australian TV advertising?
Spurzem points to international markets for clues. In the U.S., streaming ad spend is forecast to match linear for the first time in 2025. Meanwhile, New Zealand broadcaster TVNZ has publicly committed to a fully digital future, with ambitions to triple digital ad revenue.
“The real change is that streaming will become the baseline, and linear will become the incremental reach layer,” Spurzem predicted.
He also sees a shift in industry mindset: “It’s no longer ‘streaming versus linear.’ It’s about redefining what TV means in a connected, data-driven world.”
The result? A hybrid model where streaming and broadcast co-exist, and where success hinges on marketers’ ability to find unduplicated reach across platforms.
“The smartest advertisers are already adapting,” Spurzem said. “They’re moving faster with their ad dollars to where audiences actually are. Those who don’t risk being left behind in an increasingly digital-first TV ecosystem.”
As the lines between traditional TV and streaming continue to blur, one thing is clear: the revolution is already here, and the advertisers who embrace it early will come out on top.