WARC Data Charts Broadcast TV Ad Losses

Broadcast television advertising spend fell by $34 billion in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic as brands shifted their investments to AVOD services, according to WARC.

AVOD services saw brand investment rise by 9.9 percent to $26.7 billion in 2020, WARC said. By 2025, the AVOD market is set to reach $54 billion, WARC said, citing figures from Digital TV Research.

Over the next five years, brand investment in AVOD platforms is set to treble in the U.S. to $24.2 billion, with China increasing to $9.2 billion, Japan to $3.2 billion and the U.K. to $2.8 billion.

The shift in spend to digital comes as viewers spend more time on connected devices; citing AudienceProject, WARC noted that one in three Americans now only streams video content.

“Consumers have never before had such a varied choice when it comes to how and where they watch video content, and the distinction between channels continues to blur—one in three Americans now regards YouTube and TV as analogous,” said James McDonald, head of data content at WARC and author of the Global Ad Trends: Next Generation TV report. “Brands are taking note, with investment data showing a clear pivot to AVOD platforms last year.

“Like linear before it, next-gen TV is demonstrating the core traits of offering mass reach for resonant creative in brand-safe environments. However, unlike with its ancestor, fraud now poses a very real and present threat to advertising trade, especially among unverified vendors.”