Amid rapidly evolving media consumption habits and a federal push to limit direct-to-consumer drug advertising, pharma companies in 2026 and beyond are on track to continue their migration away from linear TV as the primary outreach channel.
That’s not to say that traditional TV ad spending will completely dissipate. Through early December 2025, according to data shared with Fierce Pharma Marketing by iSpot.TV, pharmaceutical and over-the-counter brands poured more than $7 billion into linear TV ads, for a year-over-year increase of about 16%.
For all those billions, however, total household TV impressions increased only about 7% year over year, per iSpot.
That’s likely due in large part to viewers’ ongoing shift away from linear TV and other traditional advertising types in favor of digital channels including streaming and connected TV (CTV).
According to eMarketer data shared with Fierce, digital ad spending—comprising social, display, search and video, including CTV—is hugely outpacing that of traditional channels, which the market research company defines as linear TV, print, radio and out-of-home ads.
In 2025, healthcare and pharma digital ad spending is estimated to reach $24.8 billion, up more than 13% from last year, while traditional ad spending will weigh in around $7.9 billion. The chasm between them will widen even further in 2026, with digital and traditional spending forecast to come in at $26.2 billion and $6.9 billion, respectively, next year.
In a particularly striking development within those categories, eMarketer noted that 2025 will mark the first year social media outpaces linear TV in healthcare and pharma ad spending. That’s “especially notable given that only a few years ago, social media was still experimental for many pharma marketers, while national TV dominated spending,” according to Beth Snyder Bulik, digital health senior analyst at eMarketer.
This year is also the first in which eMarketer’s “nonmobile” segment within the digital category, combining CTV and display ads, will surpass $10 billion, for an almost 13% increase over 2024’s total—compared to linear TV’s 11% drop to $5.6 billion.
Overall, by 2027, digital is expected to make up 82% of all healthcare and pharma ad spending, ticking steadily upward from its 76% share this year.
“Healthcare and pharma are steadily moving past a TV-first mindset. While linear TV made up more than 30% of the industry’s total ad spend a few years ago in 2021, it will drop to just 12% in 2027 as brands lean into more measurable, targeted and flexible digital formats,” Snyder Bulik told Fierce.
“Linear TV still plays a role in broad-reach moments like NFL games, national awareness campaigns, and drug launches,” she added. “But that’s increasingly balanced by the demand for more accountable, patient-relevant channels.”
TV drug ad fatigue
Beyond their shift in priorities from traditional to digital channels, many consumers are simply tired of seeing pharmaceutical ads on TV.
A recent report from Sirius XM Media included survey results from more than 2,100 adult listeners of the audio broadcasting giant’s channels, nearly 80% of whom said they believe there are too many pharma ads on TV and streaming video.
Many of the respondents said TV drug ads’ often “pleasant and happy” imagery can feel “unrealistic or out of touch” when shown alongside information about a medication’s potential side effects. Almost half of those surveyed said those visuals are “misleading,” while 28% called them “distracting,” and 40% said they can make a drug’s side effects seem less serious.
In another survey of more than 600 U.S. adults by iSpot and MX8 Labs, close to 57% reported drug ad fatigue—classifying the number of pharma ads they see as “somewhat” or “far” too many—and more than 40% said they feel like they’re seeing more than they were last year.
Consumers were somewhat more tempered on the topic of a total moratorium on DTC drug ads, with only 43% saying they’d support such a ban. About a third said they oppose a ban, while the remaining quarter were undecided.
Overall, most respondents (60%) said they find drug ads at least “somewhat” trustworthy. As the report notes, “This paradox of feeling overwhelmed yet believing presents both opportunity and responsibility for marketers.”
When asked how pharma ads could improve, 60% of survey respondents suggested making risk and side effect information more prominent, while 47% requested simpler language. Meanwhile, 25% each called for reductions in gimmicky mascots and jingles and in emotional imagery.
Navigating the crackdown on DTC ads
Looming over all conversations about pharmaceutical ad spending is the Trump administration’s directive this past fall for the FDA to rein in direct-to-consumer drug marketing by closing perceived loopholes and enforcing existing rules more strictly.
TV ads are top of mind in the crackdown: Among the potential rule changes in consideration is the rollback of the 1997 “adequate provision” policy, which allows pharmas to include only the most important information about risks and side effects of a drug in a TV ad. Reversing that rule to require the disclosure of all side effects and risks would make TV drug ads all but impossible, as it would be extremely difficult to include all required information in a 30- or even 60-second spot.
Though an all-out ban on TV drug ads has yet to materialize—and would likely be precluded by the First Amendment—the FDA has proceeded to issue dozens of warning and untitled letters to drugmakers for what it has labeled “false or misleading” TV commercials.
And the crackdown is expected to continue into 2026.
“Regulatory pressure will stay strong next year. The Trump administration’s push to tighten rules on direct-to-consumer advertising may have paused during the shutdown, but it won't last,” eMarketer’s Snyder Bulik told Fierce. “Pharma and healthcare marketers, like telehealth, should expect more oversight.”
She added, “TV advertising will continue to face scrutiny, but social and influencer marketing is an area to watch. The FDA’s September warning that deceptive advertising is the norm on social platforms suggests tougher enforcement is coming.”
Amid the administration’s focus on TV and digital platforms for DTC drug ads, pharma marketers are diversifying their advertising strategies to both reduce risk and continue refining their patient outreach.
Out-of-home advertising, for example, is on the rise. According to data shared with Fierce by the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA), pharma OOH investment increased more than sixfold between 2016 and 2024. This year’s total is expected to weigh in close to 2024’s—after the first eight months of the year saw a 21% year-over-year increase—with Eli Lilly taking the lead over last year’s OOH leader GSK.
The heightened OOH investment will stay consistent into next year, per the OAAA, which cited the channel’s status as a stable, trusted and brand-safe format for patient and caregiver healthcare communications.
Those qualities are making OOH a key piece of pharmas’ media strategies as they seek to reach consumers more precisely while also navigating a stricter regulatory environment.
“As scrutiny rises, pharma advertisers are moving beyond standard media plans and exploring more strategic, data‑driven opportunities that give them an edge. Rather than simply reallocating budgets, teams are rethinking how they map patient journeys, evaluate environments, and use targeting tools to reach audiences at moments of higher relevance,” Anna Bager of the OAAA wrote in an article, later concluding, “Marketers who stay aligned with evolving standards, communicate with clarity and build intentional media plans will be best positioned to move with the market as regulations take shape and emerge stronger on the other side.”