POLITICAL AD SPENDING OUTPACING 2020 BY $200 MILLION
Broadcast executives are cautiously optimistic about political ad revenue this year. Ad-tracking firm AdImpact reports that the 2024 federal election cycle is currently outpacing the 2020 election cycle by $200 million. To date, $383 million has been spent, compared to $183 million in 2020. AdImpact notes more consistent spending this cycle due to competitive elections in 2023, already. Former President Donald Trump and MAGA Inc., his affiliated PAC have spent a combined $15.7 million to date. Combined with Republican issue group, Never Back Down, AdImpact estimates the figure to make up 71% of all presidential spending. President Biden has placed ad buys totaling $3.7 million. Additionally, 2023 has seen increased ad spending in multiple elections, with issue spending up 97% and standard election ad spending up 172%. Healthcare issue spending has experienced significant growth. (InsideRadio: 5/31/23)
ADVERTISING INVESTMENT EXPECTATIONS
A Proximic by Comscore survey conducted among 181 agency and brand marketers reports consistent media investment across 2022 and 2023 with 87% “Expected to Use” or “Used in 2022” Digital (excluding social) and 77% for Connected TV/OTT. For Linear, expectations grow in 2023, up one percentage point (to 56%), from 55% in 2022. Marketers investing in social media advertising are on the increase as well (up 2% points from 74% to 76%), along with podcasts which show the largest gains (up 5% points from 55% to 60%). (MediaPost: 5/19/23)
CORD-CUTTER HOUSEHOLDS; 72% OF US HOMES BY 2025
According to Convergence Research, US OTT access revenue growth is expected to slow down; from 26% in 2022 to 13% in 2025. The report suggests that “traditional pay TV video is becoming [a] ‘niche’ product”, with cord-cutter/cord-never homes projected to reach 72% of all households by 2025. The decline in pay TV subscriptions is driving this trend, with an estimated 8.24 million TV subscriber losses in 2023 (-11%) and a 16% decline by 2025. In contrast, OTT is forecasted to grow by 21% in 2023. The rise of OTT is also expected to boost online advertising revenue for broadcast and cable TV networks, reaching 23% of total TV advertising revenue by 2025. (TVTech: 5/26/23)
DON’T SLEEP ON DAYTIME TV
An upcoming survey from iSpot “reveals that daytime TV ad impressions climbed 1.3% year-over-year on linear – with a 9.5% increase across broadcast giants ABC, CBS and NBC.” In Wednesday’s email to subscribers, TVRev reports that “General news & information programs and game shows gained ad impressions vs. the previous TV season, while reruns of TV staples like Friends delivered billions of impressions, too – indicating a growing reach opportunity during daytime, which is why some advertisers are pulling back from primetime investments.” (TVREV Data Dose Newsletter, free subscription: 5/31/23)