BIA Advisory Services has increased its total 2022 U.S. Local Advertising Forecast estimate to $173.3 billion, from its earlier estimate of $161.5 billion issued late summer.
BIA expects radio to come in at $12.79 billion this year and increase to $13.54 billion in 2022.
The total 2022 forecast indicates an 11.4 percent increase over 2021 due to faster than anticipated growth in digital and strong political.
BIA says traditional media ad revenue still maintains a slight advantage over digital at 50.8 percent of the ad spend ($88B), while digital media will get 49.2 percent of the ad spend at $85B.
Total local political advertising will approach $8.4B in 2022 with local television getting a large share of the spend. Fairbanks, AK; Augusta, GA, and Tucson, AZ are the top three strongest political ad markets for television.
Mobile ($35.7B), Direct Mail ($33.4B) and PC/Laptop ($32.1B) continue as the top three paid media channels for 2022.
Out of BIA’s 12 main verticals, the automotive vertical has fallen in terms of ad spend from the fifth position to the seventh position. Technology and Leisure/Recreation verticals each moved up one spot primarily because of the decrease in local automotive ad spending.
Strain around the retail industry pushed it from its longstanding position as top vertical spender in local advertising. The finance/insurance vertical will now be the top spender in 2022.
BIA’s CEO and Founder, Tom Buono, offered his assessment of the forecast saying, “Political spending is anticipated to be very large next year and other bright spots are surfacing that will affect ad revenue across the country for all media channels. As we continuously track economic conditions, we realize it’s an ever-changing situation for local businesses, which affects their ad spend decisions. Except for restaurants and various retail categories, we anticipate most business verticals to exceed 2019 levels in 2022.”
