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Today, Magna released its latest U.S. Ad Forecast report, which paints a picture of what the current domestic ad market is in the country for the year.
According to Magna, advertising revenues are expected to grow by more than 11.4% to $377 billion. Among the highlights, political advertising is boosting the bottom line, ad-funded streaming is on the rise, and digital pure players continue to dominate.
Here are standout points and key findings from the report:
Presidential election and Olympics will bring in $10 billion of incremental ad sales
Three major cyclical events this year—the presidential election, the Summer Olympics, and the Copa America soccer tournament—are predicted to drive incremental ad sales. Political advertising will by far be the largest cyclical booster in even years, and it’s expected to reach new heights this year. Magna is projecting an 11% increase in political ad sales over the previous 2020 presidential cycle to generate $9 billion in incremental media owners’ revenues.
Magna raised its political forecast as Democrat fundraising re-accelerated right after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. Donations have since flooded into the Harris/Walz campaign, and total fundraising monitored by the FEC is once again above 2020 levels. A lot of ad spend will again concentrate on a small number of swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, which will boost the ad sales of local TV stations and localized digital media.
Meanwhile, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games came back strong following the Tokyo Games during the pandemic. This year’s event saw total cross-platform audience delivery up more than 82%. For the 17 days of the event, the Games boosted NBCUniversal ratings by more than 300% compared with the same period the previous year. Overall primetime TV among the 18-49-year-old demographic across all networks rose by 4%, reversing a year-to-date trend of -14% on the same demographic.
Peacock contributed to strong viewing numbers and approximately 13% of total Olympic viewing. With strong ratings freeing up additional ad inventory, NBCUniversal’s total ad sales grew by an estimated 20% vs. Tokyo to reach $1.5 billion, of which approximately $400 million was generated around digital and streaming properties and $1.1 billion for linear TV, including broadcast and cable networks growing 6%. According to Magna, more than 60% of these ad sales will prove net incremental to full-year national TV ad revenues.
