Auto Dealers Lean Into Digital, But Broadcast Still Drives Awareness.

Automotive advertising is still growing, but the way dealers spend those dollars continues to evolve as digital tactics expand alongside broadcast media. BIA Advisory Services projects about $10.7 billion in local automotive ad spend across all tiers in 2026. Senior Director of Forecast Operations Mark Dugan said that is up a couple of points year over year. And on BIA’s “Leading Local Insights” podcast, he described automotive as one of the most “anchored categories in local advertising,” even as concerns about affordability and interest rates threaten to impact dealer sales this year.

The biggest shift is how ad dollars are allocated. “Roughly two-thirds of that spend has now shifted into digital, and that’s really where the incremental dollars are coming from,” Dugan said. Even so, he stressed traditional media still plays a key role. “Broadcast TV remains one of the largest single line items, while CTV and other digital video channels are where the fastest growth and the new dollars are showing up,” he said.

Cox Media Group Executive Chairman Steve Pruett said the growth of digital tools has reshaped how dealerships approach advertising over the past decade with a maturation of search engine marketing kicking off the “dealership digital parade.”

Despite that shift, Pruett said broadcasters — including radio operators — remain central to the dealer advertising ecosystem. “We are still as a portion of the dealer spend very significant,” he said, adding that broadcasters still have “tremendous access to dealers” and “big local brands that they want to be a part of.”

Pruett argued that broadcast’s ability to generate large-scale awareness remains difficult for targeted digital tactics to replace. “Broadcasters move people to do things, whether that’s click, call, or go,” Pruett said. “We can do that with a big voice that fills the top of the funnel.”

Dealer behavior often reflects that dynamic. Pruett said some dealers will lean heavily into digital channels for a period of time before realizing they need broader awareness again. “They’ll tilt away from broadcast for a while,” he said. “And then all of a sudden they’re thinking I need to get people in the door, I need to get people on the website, I need to get people looking at the cars I have, and they’ll revert back to filling the top of the funnel.”

That top-of-funnel role remains one of broadcast’s biggest strengths. “Reputation, top of mind awareness — those kinds of things are critically important,” Pruett said. “And that’s the kind of thing that broadcast delivers.”

For broadcast sellers competing for dealer budgets, Pruett said success often comes down to how well they understand the dealership business itself. Dealers, he added, are less interested in media pitches and more focused on business outcomes.

“The individual that represents us needs to be the most equipped and knowledge-seeking person that dealer sees in his week,” Pruett said. “He’s got plenty of people telling him about digital this and digital that and how everything works. He’s not interested in that. He’s interested in what is going to solve his business problems.”

Pruett said that means continually studying each dealership’s needs and operations. “If we improve as a broadcast industry, we will improve our ability to serve car dealers and make them more successful and get more value out of their dollar,” he said.

Dugan thinks the bottom line for broadcasters is that automotive remains a critical category, even as strategies evolve.

“Auto is not going anywhere as a local category,” he said. “They’re evolving, and you need to pay attention to how they’re evolving and what media they are looking at.”