This report compares our 2024 US ad spending and time spent with media forecasts. It identifies incongruities between how marketers are spending ad dollars and where consumers are spending their time.
Marketers will spend almost $390 billion on ads in the US this year, with more than half going to media and entertainment platforms that are constantly competing for consumers’ time and attention. US adults will spend an average of 12 hours, 37 minutes (12:37) per day with those platforms. Our analysis reveals significant—and sometimes extreme—imbalances between where marketers put their ad dollars and where consumers spend their media time.
Key Question: What insights can be gleaned by comparing our US time spent with media forecast with our US ad spending forecast—and where is ad spending most misaligned?
Key Stat: Meta draws a far larger share of US digital ad spending (21.3%) than would be expected, given the share of digital media time US adults spend on its platforms (7.5%, or 36 minutes) per day. No other major media platform comes close to this kind of skew.
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary
How to use this report
Marketers are not aligned with consumers on CTV or traditional TV
Social networks claim far more ad dollars than time spent, thanks to Facebook and Instagram
Sub OTT’s unique evolution has created a major skew between ad spending and time spent
No company leverages its users’ time quite like Meta
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Share of Time Spent per Day With Digital by US Adults vs. Share of Digital Ad Spending, by Platform, 2024 (% of time spent with digital and % of total digital ad spending)
Connected TV: Share of Time Spent per Day With Media by US Adults vs. Share of Total Ad Spending, 2019-2026 (% of time spent with media and % of total ad spending)
TV: Share of Time Spent per Day With Media by US Adults vs. Share of Total Ad Spending, 2019-2026 (% of time spent with media and % of total ad spending)
Social Networks: Share of Time Spent per Day With Digital by US Adults vs. Share of Total Digital Ad Spending, 2019-2026 (% of time spent with digital and % of total digital ad spending)
Share of Time Spent per Day With Social Networks by US Adults vs. Share of Social Network Ad Spending, by Platform, 2024 (% of time spent with social networks and % of social network ad spending)
Subscription OTT Video: Share of Time Spent per Day With Digital by US Adults vs. Share of Total Digital Ad Spending, 2020-2026 (% of time spent with digital and % of total digital ad spending)
Share of Time Spent per Day With Subscription OTT Video by US Adults vs. Share of Subscription OTT Ad Spending, by Platform, 2024 (% of time spent with subscription OTT video and % of subscription OTT ad spending)
Share of Time Spent per Day With Digital by US Adults vs. Share of Digital Ad Spending, by Platform, 2024 (% of time spent with digital and % of total digital ad spending)
Share of Time Spent per Day With Digital by US Adults vs. Share of Digital Ad Spending, by Platform, 2024 (% of time spent with digital and % of total digital ad spending)
Connected TV: Share of Time Spent per Day With Media by US Adults vs. Share of Total Ad Spending, 2019-2026 (% of time spent with media and % of total ad spending)
TV: Share of Time Spent per Day With Media by US Adults vs. Share of Total Ad Spending, 2019-2026 (% of time spent with media and % of total ad spending)
Social Networks: Share of Time Spent per Day With Digital by US Adults vs. Share of Total Digital Ad Spending, 2019-2026 (% of time spent with digital and % of total digital ad spending)
Share of Time Spent per Day With Social Networks by US Adults vs. Share of Social Network Ad Spending, by Platform, 2024 (% of time spent with social networks and % of social network ad spending)
Subscription OTT Video: Share of Time Spent per Day With Digital by US Adults vs. Share of Total Digital Ad Spending, 2020-2026 (% of time spent with digital and % of total digital ad spending)
Share of Time Spent per Day With Subscription OTT Video by US Adults vs. Share of Subscription OTT Ad Spending, by Platform, 2024 (% of time spent with subscription OTT video and % of subscription OTT ad spending)