Online businesses help drive record investment in TV

During 2021, online businesses in the UK increased their investment in TV by 21%, helping drive record figures for the medium.

Context 

All major advertising categories increased their TV investment in 2021, but the largest increase came from ‘online-born businesses’ – businesses that began online, with no prior bricks and mortar presence. This trend was driven by a pandemic-led boom in e-commerce coupled, says industry body Thinkbox, with TV’s ability to drive immediate growth in web traffic and long-term brand fame

The figures

• TV advertising investment in the UK rose 24% in 2021 to a new record of £5.46bn (the previous high was £5.28bn in 2016). This includes all investment in all forms of TV advertising, linear and on demand.
• Online-born businesses invested £1.12bn in TV, an increase of 42%.
• The largest-growing sub-category within this was Food Delivery / Food Subscription (TV spending up £58m year-on-year), followed by Online Marketplaces (up £35m) and Finance (up £31m). 
• There were 1,286 new advertisers on TV in 2021, up 50% on the pre-pandemic average.

Final thought 

“We should acknowledge that the huge increase in advertiser demand last year, coupled with a return to pre-pandemic viewing patterns, meant that TV’s price increased. This will also have contributed to its growth” – Lindsey Clay, Thinkbox CEO.

Sourced from Thinkbox