A strong post-Covid recovery expected for the industry
According to the latest advertising expenditure report from the Advertising Association and WARC, news brand ad spend has been revised up by 3.3 percentage points since October’s forecast and is now predicted to grow by almost 11% year on year in 2021.
Within this, digital ad spend in national news brands is set to see an upswing of 4.2 percentage points, rising 17.4% year on year in 2021.
Looking at actual growth, national news brands performed particularly well in Q3, up 25.4% year on year, with digital up 22.8%.
Across the media industry as a whole, ad spend is estimated to have grown by 26.4% to almost £30 billion in 2021, with the UK’s recovery larger than any other major international advertising market.
Looking ahead, total advertising investment for 2022 is set to rise by 8.5%, an upgrade of almost one percentage point as the industry continues to recover from the global pandemic. Digital news brands’ ad spend is forecast to increase by 6.4% in 2022.
Commenting on today’s report, Newsworks CEO Jo Allan said: “It’s fantastic to see an even greater recovery for the UK ad market than previously expected, with national news brands total revenue now expected to grow by almost 11% year on year in 2021, and within this digital up 17.4%.
“Our focus going forward will be on reminding advertisers of the strength of trusted news brands and the growing, engaged audiences that quality journalism delivers.”
Stephen Woodford, the Advertising Association’s chief executive, said: “The latest AA/WARC report brings welcome news not just for our industry but for the wider economy, as advertising investment is a key lever for businesses to capture new markets and drive their recovery.”
You can read the full release from AA/WARC here.
