LOCAL AD REVENUE INCREASES
BIA raised its forecast for total local media ad spending to $142.4 billion, up $4.8 billion from its original forecast in November. This includes traditional media revenue of $77.7 billion and digital media revenue of $64.7 billion. Local TV advertising revenues are expected to be $16.2 billion in 2021, down 13% from $18.6 billion in 2020; but stronger than expected. BIA sees local TV advertising is rebounding to $19.3 billion in 2022, a 19% gain. As consumers take advantage of streaming services on their TV screens, OTT is growing 16% this year, faster than mobile. Local TV figures include $1.5 billion from digital platforms in 2021, up from $1.4 billion in 2020, and $1.7 billion in 2022. (NextTV: 7/22/21)
TV VIEWERSHIP GROWTH CONTRADICTS NIELSEN REPORTING
The Video Advertising Bureau boosted its claim that Nielsen undercounted 2020 viewing by pointing to iSpot.tv data which indicates that multiple metrics grew vs. the prior year. One example: total monthly average household TV “ad ratings” were 6% higher to than the year before (3.97 million viewers vs. 3.75 million the year before). Viewership among 18-49 year-olds (+4.8% to 1.97 million) and 25-54 year-olds (+4.9% to 2.0 million) grew as well. The VAB saw ratings growth among “work at home” audiences as a result of increased TV news viewing and the return of major TV sports franchises, while Nielsen’s halting of its in-home maintenance by field agents for its 40,000 national TV panel starting in 2020 led to their “undercounting.” (MediaPost: 7/23/21)
BACK TO SCHOOL
A new report by Rakeuten, shows that “back-to-school consumers will shop both in-store and online, and almost two-thirds have already started. Conducted in June, 2021, the survey shows that 89% of shoppers will do “at least some of their shopping online” with only 7% waiting until September or later. Just about one third (34%) intend to spend between $250 – $500, while 28% will spend less than $250. About one-quarter (23%) will spend $500-$1,000, and 13% will spend $1,000 or more. One interesting finding … 63% of resondents are scouting their holiday gifts while doing their holiday shopping. (CSA: 7/26/21)
UBS Evidence Lab expects a healthy back-to-school season feeding into a strong Q4. Willingness to spend is high as the season begins, with total spending per adult back-to-school shopper expected to rise 6% vs. 2019, to an all-time high. 86% of parents with school-age children are confident or very confident that classes will return entirely to in person, up 64% last month. Two “softline” categories highlighted to be strong include footwear and denim. (SeekingAlpha: 7/26/21)
CONNECTED TV SCALES UP
The CTV space is undoubtedly having a growth spurt, with Connected TV ad spending expected to hit $10.8 billion by the end of 2020 and “balloon” to $13 billion by 2021. However, the acceleration comes with growing pains and will be a bumpy road for many years to come. “There’s an enormous amount of fragmentation. There’s an exciting outlook on the next tech that’s going to come out in the years to come to simplify this to make it an even better platform for advertisers to reach audiences.” Industry leaders discussed the opportunities and challenges in the connected TV buying space and how to smooth the pavement. As the connected TV space scales, buyers have to navigate the fragmentation of ad inventory across various platforms, which can undermine frequency caps and other audience management tools that buyers use to plan their media spend. (AdWeek: 7/27/21)
ACTIVE IN THE NEWS
Tess Erickson, Director of Research & Strategy at Broadbeam Media, Active’s performance and analytics arm, was selected to speak at the Advertising Research Federation’s AUDIENCExSCIENCE 2021 conference in September. Inspiration for her winning paper “Post-Pandemic Trends: Agility & Adaptability”, came from examining media’s new place in American’s lives, uncovering the factors driving performance now, and reevaluating our assumptions about Americans’ lifestyles and media diets.” You can read more about the research here.
