WARC: TV's Role as the Lead Channel in Top Campaigns Keeps Sliding
Updated: 6 days ago
WARC's 'Health of Creativity' analysis finds TV's role as the lead channel in the world's top award-winning campaigns fell from 43% in 2018 to 26% in 2025 — hard data for the post-TV-first era of media planning.
The Data Behind the Decline
WARC's "Health of Creativity" analysis, surfaced in trade coverage on 18 September 2026, found that television's role as the lead channel among the world's top award-winning marketing ideas has fallen sharply over the past decade. The headline figure: TV as the lead channel dropped from 43% in 2018 to 26% in 2025.
The report reframes what "TV" even means as linear declines and connected TV, social and other formats take share. The best ideas are increasingly built for a multichannel, screen-agnostic world.
What It Really Signals
This is not simply "TV is dying" — it is that TV is fragmenting and sharing the lead. Connected TV, social video and creator content now carry ideas that a decade ago would have launched on a 30-second linear spot.
For planners, the number is ammunition. It is hard evidence for defending multichannel, CTV-led strategies against stakeholders who still equate "big campaign" with "TV ad."
How to Use This
The framework is idea-first, channel-second. The winning campaigns are not choosing between TV and digital; they are designing an idea that travels across screens and letting the audience's behaviour decide the lead channel.
Our view: treat this as permission to reallocate. If TV is the lead in only a quarter of the best work, planning budgets that still default to TV-first are fighting the last decade's war.
Quick FAQ
What did WARC find about TV?
WARC's 'Health of Creativity' analysis found TV as the lead channel among the world's top award-winning campaigns fell from 43% in 2018 to 26% in 2025.
Does this mean TV is dead?
No — it means TV is fragmenting and sharing the lead with connected TV, social video and other formats, as top ideas are increasingly built for a multichannel world.
This isn't 'TV is dead' — it's 'TV now shares the lead.' If linear is the lead channel in only a quarter of the best work, planning that still defaults to TV-first is fighting the last decade's war. Design the idea first, then let behaviour pick the channel. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
The best campaigns are now idea-first and screen-agnostic — planning that still defaults to TV-first is fighting the last decade's war.
Does your media plan lead with an idea, or still default to a channel?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: MediaPost and MediaBrief, citing WARC's Health of Creativity report.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
