TV ad revenue hits record high
David Farnor | On 11, Mar 2015
TV ad revenue hit a record high in 2014, according to new research from Thinkbox.
Total TV advertising revenue in the UK increased by 6 per cent last year to reach a new high of £4.91 billion. This is the fifth year in a row that TV ad revenue has grown in the UK.
The figure represents all the money invested by advertisers in commercial TV, including Broadcaster VOD and product placement, as well as linear spot and sponsorship. TV advertising investment is forecast to grow again in 2015, with the Advertising Association/Warc predicting a rise of 5.5 per cent.
There were 800 new or returning advertisers to TV in 2014 (returning after no TV advertising for at least five years), based on Nielsen and Sky’s AdSmart data. Notable new or returning investors were Ryanair, Booking.com and Swinton Insurance.
Interestingly, though, online brands are increasingly turning to TV screens as a way to boost their exposure.
Commercial impacts – the number of TV ads watched at normal speed – have grown by 27 per cent over the last 10 years but decreased by 3.3 per cent in 2014 from 2013. While the Internet is gradually encouraging viewers to stream content away from traditional broadcasts, though, TV remains an important, unique medium.
Indeed, based on data from Nielsen, online brands and services together form the second biggest spending category on TV, having doubled investment since 2010 to over £400 million. Amazon, Google and Netflix are all among those online brands stepping up their TV ad spend. According to Nielsen, in 2014, Amazon and Google each invested £10.5 million in TV advertising in the UK for their online services and Netflix invested £8.5 million.
The average viewer watched 45 ads a day – 7 ads more a day than 10 years ago. Collectively, the UK watched an average of 2.65 billion ads a day in 2014.
Lindsey Clay, Thinkbox’s Chief Executive: “No other form of advertising can do what TV does. And, as TV viewing evolves to become more flexible for viewers, this is opening up new opportunities for brands to harness its power.”