Advanced Television

Report: Global ad revenues slump 10.2%

December 1, 2020

By Chris Forrester

The World Advertising Research Centre (WARC) in its latest report says that the Covid-19 pandemic has slashed about $63 billion (€52.6bn) from 2020’s ad-spend. WARC says there will be a 10.2 per cent fall in 2020 to about $557.3 billion.

The research says that it will take two full years before the global ad-market to wholly recover. 2021 will see a rise – based on the depressed 2020 numbers – of about 6.7 percent.

WARC says that the sectors most affected are automotive, retail, travel and tourism – but traditional media has alsso suffered badly. The broadcast/publishing sector will be down 19.7 per cent this year. Linear TV saw the largest falls of 16.1 per cent to $155.6 billion globally). Linear TV, according to WARC, accounts for almost 28 per cent of ad-spend.

Online video had a good year with a growth of 7.9 per cent to $52.7 billion although the online ad market was flat at $303.3 billion.

Europe’s ad-sector will be down 14.5 per cent although WARC says that 2021 will see gains (relative to 2020) in the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Russia.

Report author James McDonald, head of data content at WARC, said: “2020 was the most hostile year for the advertising economy ever seen in our 40 years of market monitoring. Some platforms—such as e-commerce and social properties—have emerged from this year relatively unscathed, but the vast majority of the media landscape has witnessed a severe material impact.”

He added: “Rising unemployment is set to depress consumption demand well into next year, and though the prospect of a vaccination program offers cause for optimism among consumers and businesses, it may only be a waypoint in a recovery that stretches two years.”

Categories: Advertising, Articles, Markets, Research

Tags: ,