According to the latest quarterly forecast from eMarketer, this means that digital and TV will represent 38.4% and 35.8% of total expenditure respectively. 

While TV adspend is still expected to grow by 2.5%, eMarketer has lowered its growth projection of 4.5% that it forecast in the third quarter of last year. And though TV ad spending is expected to continue to grow by 2% by year, by 2020, TV ad spending’s share will likely drop below one third of total media ad spending in the US for the first time. 

“We still expect positive growth for TV ad spend, driven by political advertising and the summer Olympics,” said eMarketer senior forecasting analyst Martín Utreras. “However, we see more ad dollars flowing to digital as a way of optimising spending in what may be a challenging economic year. 

“As consumers continue to increase engagement with mobile devices for daily activities and content consumption, marketers will further integrate all marketing activities—including advertising—to the mobile category.”