Local television ad revenue is expected to grow 28.4% in 2022, according to BIA Advisory Services, which has raised its forecasts based on a strengthening outlook for political and digital activity.
TV station over-the-air revenue will grow to $21.37 billion in 2022 from $16.64 billion in 2021, with station digital revenue climbing to $1.87 billion from $1.59 billion, BIA said.
BIA expects overall local advertising to grow 11.4% to $173.3 billion. It previously predicted local ad revenue to be $161.5 billion in 2022.
TV is expected to get a large share of political advertising, expected to approach $8.4 billion in a mid-term year. TV will get a large share of that spending, particularly in the Fairbanks, Alaska; Augusta, Georgia, and Tucson, Arizona markets.
TV and other traditional media will gather $88 billion, or 50.8% of local revenue, versus $85 billion, or 49.2% for digital.
Over the top is seen growing 57.5% this year as consumers continue to embrace various streaming services on their TV screens, BIA said.
“2021 has been a year of fluctuations,” said Mark Fratrik, senior VP and chief economist, BIA Advisory Services. “The first two quarters of the year saw strong growth, with some stalling in Q3 once the Delta variant appeared late summer. We’ve taken pandemic concerns plus inflation and supply chain issues into account to prepare our local media estimates and, overall, we are bullish on ad revenue for 2022.”■
