US advertisers will spend about the same amount on linear TV this year as they did in 2023 according to an analysis by eMarketer. Every four years, the Olympics and presidential election historically breathe life into TV ad revenue totals. But due to continual cord-cutting, the best they can do this year is keep spending flat.
And after the combo Olympic/Election year, U.S. linear TV ad spending will shrink in 2025 by 13.3%, similar to its 2023 decline, which was down 12.1% year over year.
NBCUniversal reported that it booked $1.25 billion in ad commitments for the upcoming Summer Olympics. Several forecasts predict U.S. linear TV political ad spending will be $7.06 billion in 2024.
The winner in the revenue race this year will be CTV. eMarketer notes that in their first CTV ad spending forecast back in 2019, CTV accounted for just under one tenth of the total amount U.S. advertisers spent on linear TV and CTV. This year, CTV will account for about one-third of that spending. CTV and linear TV spending will be nearly even by 2028.
Many CTV viewers prefer ad-free options, and ad loads are lighter in CTV than in linear TV. As more people cut the cord in favor of streaming, the combined ad inventory for both linear TV and CTV will shrink by an estimated 6.6% annually between 2023 and 2027, according to Madison and Wall.
Still, linear TV political ad spending will account for 57.3% of all political ad spending in the U.S. this year, per the eMarketer forecast. For many political advertisers, old-school local TV remains the most efficient way to reach voters during a time crunch.
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