The new Borrell Associates study concludes that, for the first time, in 2017, local advertisers will spend more money in digital than they will in print and broadcast. The report says it’s hardly a shocker, “given that digital media advertising has enjoyed two decades of relentless double-digit growth rates while traditional media has struggled.” In 2017, digital spend will be $80.7 billion, up from $66 billion in 2016, while print and broadcast will be $62.9 billion, down from $67.6 billion in 2016.
The report says that traditional media drove $12 billion (18%) worth of that digital advertising total in 2016. Of that 18%, radio is getting a puny 1% (even though Borell says radio grew about 12% in 2016).
Newspapers are getting the largest share at 8%. And in some markets, through their websites, apps, or programmatic networks, traditional media was responsible for one-third of the digital total. When you look at the big, national picture, there’s no doubt that the big Internet companies are raking in the majority of the digital money as this chart points out:
The study also says that even though traditional media companies are pocketing 18% of the digital revenue pie, that number has been decreasing steadily since 2002, when it was 75%.
