Think CTV Reaches the Sports Audience? Think Again.

Written by Shelley Stansfield | August 14, 2026

CTV-Only Sports Campaigns: How Much Audience Are You Missing? A local sports plan built solely on CTV misses linear broadcast viewers, cord-stackers, and traditional cable subscribers in priority local markets.

To evaluate the Linear TV & Cable System Blindspot, look at the total scale of the Top 10 (DMAs) and how viewing habits break down between traditional linear (over-the-air broadcast affiliates + local cable systems) and pure OTT/CTV.
Across just the top 10 markets, there are ~36.7 million TV households (~29.3% of the entire U.S. media universe). While CTV adoption is high in major metropolitan areas, 60% to 70%+ of live sports viewing hours still occur on linear broadcast affiliates (FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC) and local cable systems.

Here is the market-by-market breakdown of what a pure CTV/OTT plan misses in the top 10 DMAs:

Top 10 Local Market Breakdown

DMA Rank & Market	Total TV Households	Linear Household Scale (B'cast + Cable)	The CTV Blindspot (Linear-Reliant Sports Viewers)
1. New York	7,494,510	~4.2M Cable System Subs / ~1.2M OTA	~3.8M – 4.5M HHs tuning into live local sports primarily via WNYW (FOX), WCBS, WNBC, WPIX, or local cable sports networks.
2. Los Angeles	5,835,790	~2.9M Cable System Subs / ~1.1M OTA	~3.0M – 3.5M HHs that watch Dodgers, Lakers, or Rams games live on local broadcast affiliates and cable systems rather than streaming apps.
3. Chicago	3,654,750	~1.9M Cable System Subs / ~650K OTA	~1.9M – 2.2M HHs relying on local broadcast (WFLD/FOX, WMAQ/NBC) and cable systems for live Chicago sports coverage.
4. Dallas-Fort Worth	3,264,490	~1.6M Cable System Subs / ~700K OTA	~1.7M – 2.0M HHs watching Cowboys, Rangers, or Stars on linear broadcast and traditional cable feeds.
5. Philadelphia	3,145,920	~1.8M Cable System Subs / ~500K OTA	~1.7M – 2.0M HHs anchored to local broadcast affiliates (WTXF/FOX, KYW/CBS) and regional cable system lineups.
6. Houston	2,797,420	~1.3M Cable System Subs / ~600K OTA	~1.4M – 1.7M HHs missing from pure OTT buys during live Astros, Texans, or Rockets games.
7. Atlanta	2,758,170	~1.3M Cable System Subs / ~550K OTA	~1.4M – 1.6M HHs viewing college football and Braves/Falcons games via broadcast affiliates and local cable systems.
8. Washington, D.C.	2,630,640	~1.4M Cable System Subs / ~400K OTA	~1.3M – 1.5M HHs in high-income suburban cable system footprints and broadcast households.
9. Boston	2,584,460	~1.4M Cable System Subs / ~350K OTA	~1.4M – 1.6M HHs with deep linear sports loyalty (Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics) on local broadcast/cable system feeds.
10. San Francisco-Oakland	2,542,480	~1.2M Cable System Subs / ~450K OTA	~1.2M – 1.4M HHs that stream non-sports content but return to linear broadcast/cable systems for live game broadcasts.

Core Operational Impacts of This Blindspot

1. The "Dual-Audience" Split

In the Top 10 DMAs, roughly 52% of sports-watching households are "Cord-Stackers" (they keep traditional cable systems or antennas specifically for live sports and local news while subscribing to OTT apps for entertainment).
When a campaign running ads solely through CTV apps (like MLB.TV or vMVPD streaming), they only hit the digital stream slice of the game.
The Missing Piece: The 50%+ of fans watching the exact same game on their local broadcast affiliate (e.g., FOX 5 NY or CBS 2 LA) or local cable system never see the CTV campaign.

2. Frequency Clumping in CTV vs. Reach Deficits in Linear

In major markets like New York (#1) and LA (#2), pure CTV sports campaigns suffer from severe frequency capping issues:
Over-Saturating Heavy Streamers: The same high-frequency CTV sports viewer gets served the same ad 8–10 times per game across OTT apps.
Zero Reach Among Linear Sports Viewers: Meanwhile, millions of household decision-makers watching live on linear cable systems or broadcast networks receive 0 impressions.

3. The Combined CTV + Local Linear strength

When talking to advertisers or prospective partners, our value centers on incremental reach:

In the Top 10 markets alone, relying solely on OTT/CTV live sports platforms leaves over 19 million TV households on the table. These households watch live games via local broadcast affiliates and cable systems.

By automating the integration of linear cable systems alongside CTV streaming, our proposal workflow allows buyers to achieve true 100% market reach without manual spreadsheet tracking.

View full post