Total TV advertising revenue in the UK increased by 6% in 2014 to reach a new record high of £4.91 billion, according to full year revenue figures provided to Thinkbox by the UK commercial TV broadcasters.
The figure, which represents all the money invested by advertisers in commercial TV – including linear spot and sponsorship, Broadcaster VOD, and product placement – marks the fifth consecutive year that TV ad revenue has grown in the UK. TV advertising investment is forecast to grow again in 2015, with the Advertising Association/Warc predicting TV ad revenue to grow by 5.5% this year.
A significant trend in TV advertising was found to be the increasing investment from online brands and services, such as Amazon, Google and Netflix.
Based on data from Nielsen, when online brands and services are grouped together they form the second biggest spending category on TV having doubled investment since 2010 to over £400 million. 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.
Data from Nielsen and Sky AdSmart also revealed that last year there were 800 new or returning advertisers to TV (returning after no TV advertising for at least five years), with notable new or returning investors being Ryanair, Booking.com and Swinton Insurance.
65.8% of TV set viewing in 2014 was to commercial TV channels, meaning that the average person watched 2 hours 25 minutes of commercial TV a day.
Commercial impacts – the number of TV ads watched at normal speed – during 2014 decreased by 3.3% compared with 2013 but have grown by 27% over the last ten years.
The average viewer watched 45 ads a day – seven ads more a day than ten years ago – with the UK collectively watching an average of 2.65 billion ads a day in 2014.
The research also found that TV advertising prices in 2014 were approximately 40.7% cheaper in real terms than 20 years ago.
“Confidence in TV advertising reflects its unrivalled ability to create business profit and sales,” said Thinkbox’s chief executive, Lindsey Clay.
“It is also a testament to the brilliant content invested in by the UK broadcasters and the unique qualities of TV as a medium. 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.”
