Waning TV ad spend gets a little help from the Olympics, presidential election

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Key stat: US TV ad spend will fall 8% this year, per our forecast. Its share of total media ad spend is also in decline as marketers turn to faster-growing formats such as connected TV (CTV) and retail media.

Beyond the chart:

  • 2024 and 2026 will see slight bumps in TV ad spend due to the US presidential election (2024) and the Olympics (2024 and 2026).
  • Despite decreasing spend, marketers shouldn’t discount TV altogether. The channel will pull in around 10 times as many ad dollars as TikTok this year, and overall spend in the US still exceeds both CTV and retail media.
  • TV advertising could be hurt by the SAG-AFTRA strike as show productions grind to a halt. However, unscripted TV and libraries of backlogged content could buoy the channel until a resolution is reached.

Use this chart:

  • Budget TV ad spend.
  • Justify an increase in TV ad spend in 2024 and 2026.

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Methodology: Estimates are based on the analysis of various elements related to the ad spending market, including macro-level economic conditions, historical trends of the advertising market, historical trends of each medium in relation to other media, reported revenues from major ad publishers, estimates from other research firms, data from benchmark sources, consumer media consumption trends, consumer device usage trends, and eMarketer interviews with executives at ad agencies, brands, media publishers, and other industry leaders

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