Digital TV spend is up, but revenues ‘don’t reflect reach’

The ASA‘s 2024 turnover report shows a decline in TV revenue and continued growth in digital TV spending.

It offers a more positive outlook for broadcasters compared to last year.

But the latest report only tells half the story, with spending not following audiences when it comes to TV, says ThinkTV GM Communications Jacqueline Freeman.

She points out that linear TV channels continue to enjoy mass audience reach of 3.1 million viewers weekly.

Stable reach, but declining revenues?

When considered alongside the huge growth in streaming viewership of 9.3% – the total picture becomes more positive, she says.

Broadcast TV revenues are declining despite stable audience members, reflecting advertisers’ current views on TV.

“TV continues to offer incredible reach, cost efficiency, far superior attention metrics and the best ROI of any advertising medium,” says Freeman.

“We have been working extremely hard on a number of initiatives to win back a bigger share of the advertising market.”

To understand TV’s true reach and influence, the ASA report separates broadcast and digital revenues.

SMI relative to total market data

The Standard Media Index (SMI) data reports that TV revenues dropped below Outdoor during December and January.

While Outdoor is showing impressive growth, other factors help to provide context:

• Revenue attribution: SMI attributes the full revenue of Outdoor ads within the Outdoor category, but separates TV’s digital revenue into the broader “Digital” category.
  This makes it difficult to directly tie BVOD (Broadcaster Video On Demand) revenue back to the TV networks, meaning their full profits aren’t properly calculated.
• Underreporting for TV: SMI captures around 70% of total linear TV revenues, but only 20% of digital TV revenues.
  Comparatively, it reports 95% of Outdoor revenues as reported by OOHMA, making for an uneven comparison.
• Programmatic trading impact: According to the IAB, roughly two-thirds of video advertising is traded programmatically, obscuring publishers and undervaluing TV’s digital revenue contribution.

Broadcasters challenge SMI data

Given the significant underrepresentation of TV in SMI data, broadcasters challenge the finding that Outdoor has overtaken TV during these months. 

The interim February results released last week show TV back on top, with spend 19.5% ahead of Outdoor.

ThinkTV’s confidence in TV’s future

“We’re all working harder than ever to prove our value to advertisers,” says ThinkTV Chairman James Hole.

“We strongly believe that with the best reach of any medium, competitive pricing, and a quality product, our value is real.

“We can and will bounce back with renewed strength across this year and into 2026.”