US linear TV CPMs up 40.0% on pre-COVID costs

Alex Brownsell

An overview of linear TV costs in the US over the last 10 years.

Ad buyers have been negotiating a dramatic spike in TV media costs since mid-2020, according to the latest Global Ad Trends report on the rising cost of incremental reach.

Globally, TV CPMs (cost per thousand) have increased 31.2% since 2019 – the steepest incline in more than two decades – and are up 9.9% year on year in 2022. The trend is especially pronounced in western markets: in the US, TV CPMs are forecast to reach $73.14 in 2022, an increase of 40.0% on pre-COVID costs.

A twin trend of declining linear TV viewership and rising costs in...

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands