As the new year rapidly approaches, it’s time to reflect on some major changes in media over the last several years. For example, media buying is now separated into two major categories: digital and traditional. Obviously digital refers to any type of online advertising while traditional includes television, radio, magazines, newspapers, billboards, and other forms of advertising historically viewed as primary mediums.
While digital has surpassed print ad sales for quite some time, television has remained the primary choice for most advertisers with significant budgets. But 2016 could be a game changer. Two ad agency-owned research firms (Interpublic Group’s Magna Global and Publicis’ ZenithOptimedia) are both forecasting that digital advertising will overshadow television ad spending in the next couple of years.
According to Magna Global, the time that people spend watching TV has declined over the years. Now so has the number of viewers. This decline is accredited to the increasing quantity and quality of digital services such as YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu. These digital platforms are easily accessed on mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc., taking a toll on TV providers.
Magna Global is predicting that digital media spending will grow by more than 17% this year, translating into almost $160 billion dollars. Which would put it at 31.8% of the world’s global ad market of $503 billion. Meanwhile TV is at 38.4% this year and is expected to decrease by 0.4% in the global ad market in 2016. This will be the first time TV advertising has ever decreased globally, aside from a recession year.
It is predicted that digital advertising will continue to grow by 13.4% in 2016 and will replace television’s status as the “big dog” of the advertising industry by the end of 2017.
Although television is slowly losing ground, the next couple of years may prove to be good ones for the media giant. The Super Bowl, US presidential election, Olympic games, and the UEFA Football championship in Europe will all provide a temporary boost in sales.
Of course, with broadcast television now offering more quality programming on the one hand, while pushing boundaries on the other by giving the general public what they apparently want (meaning more explicit sex and graphic violence), it’s clear it won’t go down without a fight. So these predictions may not be realized quite so soon.
But why take chances? If television advertising is truly becoming a secondary medium in today’s increasingly digital world, media buyers need to stay ahead of the curve in order to remain relevant.