NEWS3 May 2018

Online media predicted to overtake linear TV

Media Mobile News North America Technology Trends UK

US & UK – Online media will surpass global linear TV viewing this year, according to research from WPP’s media investment arm GroupM.

The ‘State of Digital’ report, which tracks the dominance of different media channels by media investment, found that consumers will spend an average 9.73 hours a day with media in 2018, up from 9.68 hours in 2017.

Online is predicted to represent 38% of time spent with media, or 3.69 hours, while linear TV accounts for 37% ( 3.63 hours). Radio accounts for 1.73 hours, with print media at 0.68.

The report also found that programmatic advertising represented 44% of online display investment in 2017, compared to 31% the year before, and is predicted to rise to 47% in 2018. These figures are smaller for programmatic online video investment, which is predicted to increase from 22% in 2017 to 24% this year.

E-commerce is predicted to grow by 15% in 2018, according to the report, based on data from 35 countries in the study highlighting e-commerce transactions worth $2.1tn in 2017 – a 17% annual increase.

Methodology: A survey was sent to 44 GroupM offices around the world, yielding local statistics and opinion. Averages were calculated, taking into account currency conversions.