UK TV Advertising Market Surges in 2024: A Breakdown
Advertising dollars on television increased by 3.8% during the year 2024
In the bustling world of advertising, Britain's TV advertising industry took a significant leap in 2024, raking in a whopping £5.27 billion, according to Thinkbox, a marketing body championing the commercial TV sector.
The surge in investment represented a 3.8% growth compared to the previous year. Broadcaster TV, encompassing linear and on-demand services from giants like Channel 4, ITV, Sky, and UKTV, experienced a substantial boost, contributing £5.04 billion to the total investment.
ThinkBox's findings revealed that broadcaster TV accounts for an eye-popping 95.5% of the television advertising pie, with the remaining £236 million allocated to ad-supported streaming platforms such as Discovery+, Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video, and Vevo. This figure represented a substantial increase from the £96 million recorded in 2023.
Digital advertising, however, continues to outshine TV, with We Are Social reporting that UK's digital ad spend skyrocketed by 9.4% to an astonishing $48.1 billion (£35.9 billion) in 2024. What's more, social media ad spend alone increased by a staggering 13.8% year-on-year.
Despite the digital domination, some industry experts argue that brands may be overinvesting in social media, undervaluing the power of television. EssenceMediacom's Chief Strategy Officer, Richard Kirk, raised this point last year, stating that brands could potentially be spending three times too much on social media and underestimating the impact of television.
The growth in TV advertising was led by an influx of new advertisers. In 2024, a staggering 932 new companies ventured into TV advertising, up from 791 in the previous year, injecting an additional £124.9 million into the industry.
The biggest investors in TV advertising in 2024 were Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) brands, pouring £67 million into advertising, followed closely by retail at £52.4 million and business/industrial at £21.8 million. However, with the impending ban on advertising High Fat, Salt, and Sugar (HFSS) products from October 2025, investments from FMCG brands could take a hit as they await final guidance from the regulator.
Lindsey Clay, the CEO of Thinkbox, commented on the challenging business environment, stating, "2024 was a tough year for businesses, and 2025 is looking even more uncertain. Brands need safe havens at a time like this, places they can rely on to deliver, defend their price premiums, and help them be as resilient as possible."
Analysts at WARC and the Advertising Association predicted that the total UK ad market would reach £40.7 billion in 2024, with the strongest growth coming from online display, search, broadcaster video-on-demand, and out-of-home advertising.
While there are no direct comparative growth rate forecasts for online (digital) advertising versus TV advertising in the UK for 2024 and 2025, current data and market analyses suggest that digital advertising will continue to outpace TV advertising, with digital seeing double-digit growth in 2024 and single-digit growth in 2025, while TV advertising remains largely stagnant or grows slowly.
- In the UK's business sector, the marketing body Thinkbox reported a significant increase in investment towards television advertising in 2024, indicating a growth of 3.8% compared to the previous year.
- The financial figures revealed that the media industry contributed a substantial amount to the overall business revenue, with technology-driven platforms like Discovery+, Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video, and Vevo accounting for a small percentage of the television advertising market.
- Despite the significant growth in digital advertising, industry experts like Richard Kirk from EssenceMediacom argue that some brands may be overinvesting in media channels like social media, potentially underestimating the impact that traditional advertising methods, such as television, can have on their business.
