TV ad revenue returned to growth in 2024
Total TV ad investment grew 3.8% year on year to £5.27bn in 2024, according to the latest figures from TV marketing body Thinkbox.
Broadcasters received the lion’s share (95.5%) of investment, equivalent to £5.04bn. That compares with combined revenues from subscription VOD (SVOD), advertising-supported VOD (AVOD) and free ad-supported TV (FAST) platforms of £236m.
However, total broadcaster ad revenue grew just 1.2% year on year, compared with a 146% year-on-year increase for SVOD, AVOD and FAST combined.
Notably, this is the first time ad tiers on Disney+, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video were included in the reporting.
While these companies generally do not publicly report ad revenues for their ad tiers, The Media Leader understands that Thinkbox estimated revenues based on submissions of actuals by media owners; modelling of inventory supply, prices and fill rates; and a series of interviews with industry stakeholders.
Brand categories that upped their spend on TV last year include household FMCG businesses (+22% to £368.9m), retailers (+27% to £248m) and business and industrial brands (+21% to £123.8m).
Growth in new-to-TV brands
According to Nielsen Ad Intel data, as well as figures from the UK’s main commercial broadcasters, 932 advertisers invested in TV for the first time or returned after more than five years away from the medium in 2024. These include large global brands such as Allianz and Alibaba.
That amounts to a 17.8% year-on-year increase from the 791 new-to-TV brands that invested in TV the year before.
Such new-to-TV advertisers were estimated to contribute £124.9m in new spending.
‘The SME tail is wagging the dog’: Thinkbox urges reconsideration of ad market
The growth in such advertisers will be welcome news to broadcasters, many of which have expressed a recent interest in pursuing brands in the “fat end of the long tail”, as ITV’s commercial managing director Kelly Williams described earlier this year.
Doing so requires innovation in making TV ads both easier to produce (such as via generative AI) and easier to buy. Channel 4, for example, announced in February that it will relaunch its streaming proposition for advertisers to “simplify how you buy TV”.
Meanwhile, in the US, Comcast launched Universal Ads, a cross-industry ad solution aimed at allowing advertisers of all sizes to buy TV ads “as easily as they buy from social media platforms”. UK broadcasters, including Channel 4, have expressed an openness to potentially partnering Universal Ads.
Safe haven amid uncertainty?
Thinkbox CEO Lindsey Clay said the 2024 results reflect that “commercial TV is transforming and growing, with more opportunities than ever for businesses to advertise in its high-quality, high-attention, highly effective environments”.
She suggested last year’s growth was fuelled by “innovation across TV companies”, such as via data-driven advertising solutions.
But while TV’s return to growth in 2024 occurred amid a “tough year for business”, according to Clay “2025 is looking even more uncertain”.
Media budgets were found to have declined in Q1 amid uncertainty over how US president Donald Trump’s tariff policy might impact the global economy. Increased fears of recession could further weigh on marketing investment later into the year.
Meanwhile, an ongoing lack of clarity over the implementation of the less-healthy foods (LHF) ad ban could lead to tightened media budgets for impacted channels, especially TV.
One media planner told The Media Leader that they had attempted to model the impact the ban could have on the TV market if all brand advertising were to be included in the ban. Under that “most pessimistic” scenario, the TV market could contract by as much as 25% if no brands with LHF products could do brand advertising on the medium, according to the planner.
However, according to Clay, TV’s proven effectiveness and ability to protect price premiums should make the channel an increasingly attractive option for advertisers amid any macroeconomic downturn.
“Brands need safe havens at a time like this,” she argued. “Places they can rely on to deliver, defend their price premiums and help them be as resilient as possible.
“TV is proven to be the safest place a brand can be.”
LHF uncertainty continues as UK media industry urges government to exclude brands from ban