Traditional TV advertising set to be flat in 2020

Traditional TV advertising set to be flat in 2020 DetailsEditor | 02 December 2019 In what would be a return to growth of sorts, the UK’s television advertising market is projected to turn around a disappointing shrinking 2019 and bounce back next year according to the Group M advertising forecast.The study from the global media investment management arm of WPP provides an even larger growth projection for 2020 than was originally predicted in the company’s forecast from June 2019. The overall projection is that UK advertising will grow by 7.8% in 2019, to £22 billion. One of the major reasons for the growth said Group M was that because, as more digital endemic marketers increasingly replace traditional companies that came before them, spending shares will shift more toward digital marketing.Digital behemoth’s like Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Alphabet, eBay, IAC, Uber and Booking.com are massive contributors to the double-digit growth for advertising. Indeed Group M forecasts that as economic conditions improve looking past 2021, digital pure-play media owners will account for 73% of all advertising in the UK. by 2024. They are set to spend more than £25 billion on advertising in 2019.While outdoor should be the fastest growing traditional medium with predicted growth of 4–5% over each of the next five years after growing close to 5% in 2019, the survey predicts that traditional TV advertising will be flat in 2020 after ending up down by 2.3% this year, with Brexit used in some quarters as a potential explanation for continuing caution.Yet during 2020, GroupM expects any more uncertainty will mean corporations wanting to protect cash reserves. It adds that pressure on budgets shows up most in big brand partnerships in TV and other media, while sponsorships still sell but are less contested, and the supporting activation—merchandising, content, talent—less elaborate. However, GroupM observed that it was seeing new-to-TV clients willing to exchange equity in the company for airtime value exchange.In addition it warned that secular factors were impacting the TV market as well. After voluntary reform in live-odds advertising took effect towards the end of 2019, excepting horse racing, this brought an end to such advertising during sporting event transmissions. Given that demand for such airtime far exceeds supply, it trades at a big premium.After generating £4.506 billion in 2018, the Group M report forecasts that the market will accumulate £4.402 billion in 2019 and 2020. TV’s share of total revenue in 2019 is calculated to be 19.9% compared with 21.9% in 2018 and then 18.6% in 2020.