From 2019 to post-pandemic America might be one of the most intense five-year shifts in media and its consumption in modern history. Now BIA Advisory Services has documented the financial and valuation fluctuations of the past half-decade on broadcasters.
The analysis spans from 2019, before the pandemic, through the end of 2023, focusing on revenue, profitability, valuation trends, and valuation multiples. BIA selected these five years to highlight sector performance changes during and after the pandemic and to identify the current leaders in the media industry.
BIA Advisory Services CEO Tom Buono and VP of Media Valuations Lauren Ross have published a review examining 36 public companies across six sectors competing for local advertising: Digital, Large Diversified Video Providers, Television Groups, Audio Providers, Out-of-Home (OOH), and News & Information Companies.
The report found in 2020, total local advertising in the US fell by approximately 6.9% to $138.2 billion, as tied to COVID. This was followed by significant growth, reaching $163.8 billion in 2022, before cooling 3.9% to $157.4 billion in 2023. Digital media companies performed well in terms of revenue and income during and after the pandemic.
Audio providers, including radio, and Out-of-Home Companies showed the weakest performance between 2019 and 2023.
The entire Media Ecosystems Report is available on BIA’s website.
As for the near future, BIA updated its US Local Advertising Forecast for 2024 back in March, indicating more challenges for radio. Initially predicting a surge in local ad spending driven by political revenue, the latest forecast shows a 9.3% year-over-year increase in revenue across all media, reaching $172 billion.
This is a 2% reduction from the October prediction due to mixed economic indicators and slower consumer spending.
While over-the-air radio is still expected to grow, it will not match the growth rate of visual media. Digital advertising is projected to constitute 48.7% of the overall ad spend of $84 billion, while traditional media ads will make up 51.3%, or $88 billion.
