Earlier this year, BIA Advisory Services dropped its 2024 local advertising forecasts. But an uptick in political advertising has them re-adjusting their projections.
After dropping its forecast from $175.6 billion to $172 billion, the company is now jumping its projection to $173.7 billion after what it called “unprecedented” political advertising. Despite the new figure being less than what was originally projected, the $173.7 billion amount is a 9.5% increase compared to 2023.
Recent projections from others have stated that the 2024 election cycle is expected to see more than $10 billion spent on political advertising. Of that $10.7 billion, $381 million is estimated to be spent on terrestrial radio. A projected $5.35 billion will be spent on broadcast television, with cable TV to see $1.93 billion.
During a joint webinar with Marketron CEO Jimshade Chaudhari, BIA Vice President of Forecasting Nicole Ovadia shared that radio will ranked behind cable and over-the-air television in the ranking of largest recipients of those advertising dollars. $88.4 billion is expected to be spent on those mediums in 2024. Digital media, however, is not far behind with $85.3 billion projected. 2025 could be the first year where digital media outshines terrestrial media in the sector.
For 2025, BIA Advisory Services forecasts $170.9 billion to be spent in local advertising. Currently, radio is projected to receive $10 billion of that figure, representing 5.8% of total ad purchases, which would be a decline of 1.6%.
