Insights

The global COVID pandemic has delivered the largest decline in ad spend yet seen in key advertising markets, with national ad spend in the Anglo Markets decreasing by 8% in 2020. However, our data also shows that while the decline in ad spend has been at a record level, the market recovery is well underway with these markets reporting combined growth of +5% in the final quarter.

After a dismal second quarter 2020, the national ad marketplace ended with a strong fourth quarter. SMI reported no category was stronger in the final quarter than Consumer Packaged Goods, with year-over-year ad spend growth of +34%, the most of any vertical. For calendar year 2020, CPG ad spend grew +10%, compared to -7% for the entire ad market.

SMI’s upfront/scatter report provides insight on where and when national TV ad dollars were allocated by programming genre and by broadcast or cable TV, during the first quarter (Oct-Dec 2020) of the 2020-21 broadcast season.

I was asked this month to share some AVOD and OTT insights at the Global – Future of TV Forum. As you know, OTT consumption has been growing with new platforms and with more premium video content available. And consumer adoption, especially during the pandemic, grew considerably. As a result, advertisers are allocating more of their ad budget on this fast-growing medium.

Performance during the July to September quarter is key for the media industry, with the transition from Summer into Fall; and in some markets, it represents the conclusion of a broadcast season and the start of a new one. This year’s third quarter was even more interesting, as the media industry across all Anglo markets attempted to recover from a disastrous second quarter as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown.

In second quarter 2020 the full impact of the COVID pandemic on the ad marketplace was felt globally. According to Standard Media Index (SMI), second quarter ad spend dropped by an average of -37.1% across five major Anglo markets, the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, year-over-year. SMI reports ad spend declines had continued and even accelerated throughout second quarter after the pandemic first hit in mid-March. There are, fortunately, indications of a partial recovery in the ad marketplace within third quarter.

Sophisticated media advertising markets are averaging a 28.2% decline in advertising expenditure in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to expert data analysis by the world’s leading advertising intelligence company.

The industry’s most trusted source of ad intelligence and pricing data, announced the appointment of Ben Tatta as President for the U.S. market. In this role Tatta will lead the growth and expansion of the business in the U.S., reporting directly to Global CEO, James Fennessy.

The effect of Covid-19 on advertising and media industries were first felt with the final three weeks of March, impacting the revenue of the month and to a lesser extent first quarter 2020. SMI’s AccuTV Broadcast Report for the month and quarter point this out. James Fennessy, the CEO of Standard Media Index says, “In March we began to see the impact of Cov-19 on the advertising marketplace. SMI with its unique ability to accurately measure the ad marketplace, will be able to know not only how deep the economic slowdown will be, but also when the ad marketplace will rebound”.

The impact of the COVID-19 was first felt in the latter weeks of first quarter 2020. This was confirmed by our Cross Platform analysis which reports ad s...

Standard Media Index’s (SMI) just released January data show the six major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Telemundo and Univision), collectively pulled in $1.5 billion in gross ad revenue, a year-to-year increase of 4%. Cable snagged slightly over $1.8 billion in gross ad revenue for the month, a decline of 4.4% when compared to January 2019. Overall, total national television gross revenue fell by a modest 1.2%.

The three cable news networks have been a popular destination with viewers in recent years, especially MSNBC. Analyzing ad intel from Standard Media Index confirms their popularity...

According to the Rule of Three in economics, all industries mature into three dominant competitors. And that’s certainly evident in the linear TV business. Between them, ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal Media and The Walt Disney Co. now have a 55% share of all ad revenue on National broadcast and cable TV channels