BIA Updates U.S. Local Ad Estimate for 2024 to $172B

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, March 12, 2024 | 4:29pm CT

BIA Advisory Services

BIA Updates U.S. Local Ad Estimate for 2024 to $172B In an update to the 2024 U.S. Local Advertising Forecast, BIA Advisory Services estimates revenues across all media in the U.S. will reach $172 billion in 2024, an increase of 9.3 percent over 2023. The rise will be driven by local political and other key local vertical ad spends. The forecast reflects a reduction of 2.0 percent from BIA's October 2023 estimate.

"As expected, local political advertising will be substantial this year, and it's fueling spend across the media landscape," said BIA Advisory Services VP of Forecasting & Analysis Nicole Ovadia. "Our slight adjustment down for this year is mainly due to mixed economic signals, a slowdown in certain consumer purchases, and lower than expected spending in Digital and Direct Mail advertising at the end of 2023 that may flow into this year. However, we still anticipate 2024 to be better for local advertising than 2023 and certain media like TV OTA, TV Digital, and CTV/OTT are growing substantially."

The 2024 forecast update shows a small increase in expectations for local political advertising. BIA estimates $11.1 billion in spending this year, up 15.5 percent from 2020. Local television will continue to get the largest share of the spending, with forecasted increases in local political advertising going to CTV/OTT.

The split between traditional and digital advertising shows that digital has a slightly smaller share with 48.7 percent of the overall advertising spend at $84 billion. Traditional media ad revenue is slated at 51.3 percent of the ad spend at $88 billion. Growth is occurring in both types of media. TV OTA (+28.3 percent) and TV Digital (+24.9 percent) are both projected to grow this year, even when looking at forecast estimates with and without political advertising.

"Political and issue campaigns are recognizing that the combination of premium TV and targeted advertising can make a strong impact, using the same kinds of data ad buyers need with digital media," said BIA Managing Director Rick Ducey. "Another factor supporting this growth is that we are observing spending leaking out of search and social and going into CTV/OTT." BIA's local advertising forecast covers 96 local verticals. Key vertical takeaways from the forecast include:

October estimates:

• Sum of Radio OTA, $10,828,922
• Sum of Streaming Radio, $2,958,611

Comparison of October to revised:

• Sum of Radio OTA, -0.4%
• Sum of Streaming Radio, +0.5%

Top three fastest-growing verticals year-over-year:

• Political (+1975.2 percent)
• Real Estate (+12.5 percent)
• Leisure and Recreation (+4.7%)

Key local business verticals declining year-over-year:

• Health (-3.3%)
• General Services (-2.5%)
• Automotive (-1.0%)

"Beyond political, one category to also watch is real estate, as there's been so much pressure around home prices and interest rates," said Ovadia. "We believe later this year when rates start to decrease, a flurry of activity will generate increased advertising, especially by realtors. Declining verticals like health are level setting from the pandemic but certain key areas of this vertical are holding spending steady and even increasing. Auto will not make a full recovery to pre-pandemic spending levels through the end of our forecast period in 2027."

iHeartMedia Named Audio Partner of INTENNSE iHeartMedia and Intennse INTENNSE has announced a partnership with iHeartMedia naming iHeartRadio the official audio partner of the professional co-ed tennis league as it prepares for its 2026 season and future expansion plans. Under the agreement, iHeartRadio will serve as INTENNSE's More

Black Box Group Launches ''Summer School'' Training Series Summer School Black Box Group (BBG), the west coast consulting and strategy firm led by media strategist and talent coach Keith Cunningham, has launched "Summer School," a live online training curriculum aimed at helping radio programming, talent, digital, and promotions teams prepare for the More

LPFM Advocacy Group Urges FCC to Modernize Rules Low Power FM Advocacy Group (LPFM-AG) The Low Power FM Advocacy Group (LPFM-AG) has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging regulators to recognize what it calls significant competitive disadvantages facing Low Power FM stations in today's audio marketplace. The filing, submitted in response to the FCC's proceeding More

MIW Names Christine Manika as Country Radio Mentee Christine Manika Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio (MIW) has named Christine Manika as the third participant in its Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Country Radio mentorship program. Manika currently serves as Brand Manager and midday host for KIKN-FM and morning host for KXRB in Sioux Falls, SD. The year-long More

AM/FM Radio Dominates Audio Reach Among Kia Drivers Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group A new blog post from Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group highlights the continued dominance of AM/FM radio among Kia drivers, citing newly released data from Edison Research's "Share of Ear" study. The report, authored by Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer for Cumulus Media and Westwood More

Broadcasters Foundation Sets NYC Media Mixer for June 25 Broadcasters Foundation of America The Broadcasters Foundation of America will host its latest Media Mixer on Thursday, June 25, at the New York City studios of iHeartMedia, bringing together broadcasting executives, on-air talent, and emerging industry professionals for an evening focused on networking and supporting More