What changed
Streaming's biggest companies spent the fall merging apps and trading shows. Skydance closed its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery in early October and says HBO Max and Paramount+ will become one service over time. No name, price or date has been set, and both apps run separately for now.1
A bigger app doesn't bring a dealer new buyers on its own. EMARKETER expects the merger to do little for advertisers' reach, because the two audiences overlap.2 The households in your market already watch across many apps. A merger changes the logo on the screen. It doesn't add a single household to your sales area.
The money has already moved. iSpot.tv counts auto brands' 2026 streaming spend ahead of linear TV for the first time, and Kia put 51% of its third-quarter TV spend into streaming.3 Dealers lead the local side. Madhive data shows dealers and dealer associations placing about four in five automotive streaming impressions this year.3
What buying by household looks like
Chapman Automotive, a 25-store group in Arizona, buys its streaming TV itself in Roku Ads Manager. It reached more than 1.7 million households at $7.36 per thousand impressions, and it widened its targeting from zip codes to the whole market once the price allowed it.4 Its search marketing manager calls the approach reach over repetition.4
Two layers run at once. A regional brand campaign changes a few times a year, and each store runs a local campaign whose spots turn over every month with the inventory on the lot.4
The part dealers can't see
Reporting is where streaming TV breaks down for many stores. In a Pasch Group survey of dealers, 64% had been frustrated by reports listing channels they didn't recognize, and 58% had never received show-level reporting.5
“Everybody can show you amazing numbers, but I never saw a spot.”Al Gillespie, CMO, Feldman Automotive, speaking to AdExchanger6