Industry advocacy group ThinkTV has released the Total TV advertising revenue figures for Australia for the past 12 months, noting a dip in revenue that is reflective of broader market uncertainties.

ThinkTV CEO Kim Portrate noted that the advertising market is feeling the effect of decreased consumer and business confidence as well as global political uncertainty and “these results reflect this”.

The total TV market, which includes metropolitan free-to-air, regional free-to-air, subscription TV and Broadcaster Video on Demand (BVOD), recorded combined revenues of A$4.1 billion for the year to June 2019, which was down 4.1% compared to the same period to June 2018.

In the June half, TV advertising revenues were A$1.9 billion, a decrease of 3.6% when compared to the same period ending June 2018.

Media agency Zenith had forecasted total Australian ad spend to grow by 3% this year, reaching A$17.19 billion. That’s aligned with its March growth forecast, but reflects a heavier uptake of internet and a steeper decline in TV revenues.

The Australian online advertising market reached A$8.8bn in 2018, up 11.6% from 2017, according to the IAB Australia Online Advertising Expenditure Report published by PwC. Australian consumers now spend close to 100 hours a month on a desktop, smartphone or tablet device and nearly five million people are accessing internet content on their TV screens daily.

BVOD revenue jumps by 32%

One bright spot was the performance of BVOD platforms 7Plus, 9Now, 10 Play and Foxtel Now continues, translating into record revenue growth with BVOD revenues up 34.2% to A$67.1m for the six months to June 30, 2019. BVOD revenue for the total financial year was A$128.3m, up 32.2% year-on-year.

“What an impressive result for BVOD which continues to attract advertisers as well as audiences hungry to consume high-quality content on the device of their choosing,” said Portrate.

Sourced from Which 50, AdNews