GLOBAL MID–YEAR FORECAST

JUNE 2021
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

JUNE 2021

GLOBAL MID-YEAR
FORECAST
INTRODUCTION 03

ADVERTISING FORECASTS: 05
19% GLOBAL GROWTH FOR 2021

OLYMPIC CONCERNS 06

WPP Employees ECONOMIC TRENDS AND DRIVERS 07

Visit, inside.wpp.com.
OF DIGITAL GROWTH
GroupM Clients
Please speak with your account director TELEVISION 9
for the full file.

General Inquiries OTHER MEDIA: AUDIO, PRINT, OOH AND CINEMA 10

Visit www.groupm.com and search
for the latest “This Year Next Year.”
KEY MEDIA TRENDS: GLOBAL STREAMING VIDEO 12

KEY MEDIA TRENDS: GLOBAL CONCENTRATION 14

KEY MEDIA TRENDS: CONNECTED TV+ 16

2
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

GLOBAL FORECAST:
INTRODUCTION
In this edition of This Year, Next Year
we are significantly raising our global
advertising forecasts.
Midway through 2021, it has become apparent that the market is growing
much faster than we expected and from a larger base than we previously
believed. While many of these growth factors were in place before last year,
the pandemic has proven to be an accelerant.

Factors causing higher than expected growth include faster than expected
expansions of app ecosystems, rapid small business formation activities
and the growing role of cross-border media marketplaces, especially
involving manufacturers based in China. These elements are most tangibly
contributing to accelerated growth in digital advertising.

Other changes are taking root as well. Traditional TV network owners are
prioritizing investments in content delivered on streaming services. While
advertising to grow by 19% (excluding U.S. political advertising) during
many of them will offer some ad inventory and capture a share of total TV
2021, a significant upward revision from expectations we held at the
advertising, those gains will only offset reduced spending on the traditional
time of our prior publication at the end of 2020. This represents a level
form of the medium. Consequently, we see faster growth in Connected TV+
of ad revenue that is 15% higher than 2019, as 2020 only experienced a
advertising (what we previously called “digital extensions of traditional TV”)
3.5% decline on our revised estimates. High growth should persist for
than previously forecast, but total television advertising will generally be
the foreseeable future, too. Our new forecasts now extend to 2026 and
stable or slow-growing.
show a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.3% between this
We also highlight some negative considerations to consider because, coming year and then.
out of the pandemic, there are a wide range of potential disruptions still to
In absolute terms, we now expect global advertising including U.S.
be overcome. Globally we can point to issues like supply chain disruptions
political to exceed $1 trillion in 2026, up from $641 billion in 2020
and higher levels of general market inflation. Additionally, many individual
and $522 billion in 2016. Of note, concentration within the industry
markets have yet to emerge from the depths of the pandemic.
has increased over this time: in 2020, the top 25 media companies
While these factors represent risks to our forecasts, we emphasize that the represented 67% of total advertising revenue. That same group of 3
overall view embedded here is one of optimism. In total, we expect global companies accounted for 42% in 2016.
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

Total Advertising
25.0%

20.0% 19.2%

15.0%

10.7%
10.0% 8.4% 8.6% 8.8%
6.9% 7.2%
6.8%
5.7% 6.0% 6.2%
5.9% 5.9% 5.5%
4.8% 4.6%
5.0% 4.0% 4.0% 5.1%
4.6%
4.5% 2.4%

0.0% -0.1%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
-1.4%
-3.5%
-5.0% -3.9%

-10.0%
-10.7%

-15.0%

Source: GroupM

4
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

ADVERTISING FORECASTS:
19% GLOBAL GROWTH FOR 2021
In describing our data at a global level, we continue to focus on media resources toward the best-available or least-bad alternative,
figures that exclude the distorting effects of U.S. political even if that alternative is worse than what came before it. Limits on
advertising. On that basis, we expect global growth of 19% in 2021, data availability can concentrate spending among fewer media owners
which is an improvement on our prior forecast from December, as control of data becomes similarly concentrated.
which anticipated 12% growth. Looking beyond the current year,
we expect elevated growth to continue as the underlying trends
driving this year’s outperformance likely persist. Between now
and 2026, we expect a CAGR of 6.3%, not far from the 7.0% pace
of expansion in the five years before the pandemic, 2014-2019. Advertising Forecast
by Market
Looking at individual markets, we note that during 2021, several
major ad markets should see better than 20% growth. This includes
expectations for the U.K. and Brazil to grow by 24% and for China
to grow by 23%. Many others will rise by high teens, including the
CANADA
United States, which should grow by 17% on a comparable basis. 2021
U.K. GERMANY
2021 2021
Few markets will be soft in 2021: the median country we track will +19% +24% +11% CHINA
grow by 11% this year. JAPAN
U.S. 2021
2021
Most of the improvement in growth reflected in this update 2021 FRANCE +23% +10%
belongs to digital media. We now forecast 26% growth for all forms +17% 2021

of pure-play digital media versus 15% at the time of our December

+10% INDIA
2021

update. Expectations for other years are also raised, although to BRAZIL +20%
a lesser degree. 2021

Changes to the availability of data, such as the elimination of third-

+24% AUSTRALIA
2021

party cookies or tighter laws around the use of data, such as GDPR +18%
in Europe or California’s CCPA law, should have essentially no
impact on total spending. Marketers typically make the most of
whatever data and signals are available to them and deploy their Source: GroupM

5
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

OLYMPIC CONCERNS
As strong as 2021 should be, other negative trends could still hinder If the Olympics were canceled—due to public pressure or in reaction
growth. The ongoing shortage of semi-conductors that is causing a to an outbreak during the games—we would expect most marketers to
wide range of industries to shut down or slow production is generally continue with their third-quarter media campaigns. However, limited
expected to be temporary. Advertising budgets may be barely impacted ad inventory—especially on television—could lead to the cancellation of
if the most affected marketers focus their spending on longer-term some media spending. We are also mindful of growing calls to boycott
brand building or limit their use of scarce parts to their highest-value the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, which could have similarly
products. Still, it is a risk that could become more meaningful if the disruptive effects on media markets, even if total spending ultimately
underlying problems persist throughout the year. remained unchanged.

General market inflation could also hamper recovery if it becomes

too strong in a given market. With rising input costs, including
commodities and labor, paired with strong demand from consumers, Media Economy-Weighted Global
like-for-like prices should go up if all else holds equal. If consumer
CPI Inflation
behaviors remain unchanged—far from a given—higher prices for 6.0%
goods may translate into higher revenues in nominal terms, and
marketers who allocate media budgets as a percentage of revenue 5.0%
would probably raise spending as well. This could be offset if
marketers use a period of inflation to consider ways to reallocate their 4.0%
resources elsewhere. Economists’ consensus expectations for inflation
anticipate slightly higher levels relative to any year since 2011, 3.0%
although we think that these forecasts may prove to be conservative.

We must also consider the possibility that the Tokyo Olympic Games 2.0%
could still be canceled. Organizers continue to move forward with a
July 23 opening, but public opinion in Japan is firmly against the 1.0%
games. An Asahi Shimbun poll from May 18 found that 83% of
Japanese voters now want the games to be canceled or postponed, 0.0% 200 1

200 8
200 3
200 4

200 6
200 5
200 0

200 7

200 9
200 2

2015
2010

2022
2017

2019

2021
2012

2023
2024
2011

2025
2018

2020
2013
2014

2016
up markedly from earlier polls. Vaccination rates remain very low in
Japan, and large parts of the country are under a state of emergency.
Source: GroupM calculations based upon data from Oxford Economics via Refinitiv.

6
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

ECONOMIC TRENDS AND

DRIVERS OF DIGITAL GROWTH
The relationship between gross domestic product and the advertising businesses helped ensure that consumers could maintain relatively
market is more tenuous than is commonly understood. While economic normal economic activity. In many markets, governments launched
activity is often the most critical factor influencing our forecasts, GDP significant public health-focused advertising campaigns as well.
itself is often more of a directional influence on advertising than a true
Existing small businesses were likely not the only source of SMB support
driver. Changes in GDP or similar metrics tend to be highly correlated
for the media industry. We think that rapid growth in the formation of
with advertising, but not always in any given market. It can be difficult
new small businesses—perhaps enabled by entrepreneurs realizing they
to draw a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the two.
could build new ventures from home without incurring real estate costs—
With that noted, it was always likely that there would be an economic was also likely a factor. We can hypothesize that many of them
rebound in most of the world during 2021, given the depths of the substituted spending on digital media inventory in place of spending
declines in 2020, and advertising growth was always likely to rebound on physical storefronts.
as well.

Overall, the declines we saw in advertising only partially mirrored the New Business Formation Growth
declines we saw in economic activity last year because the costs of the
100.0%
pandemic were narrowly concentrated among a relatively small group
of consumers and a handful of advertising categories. Some marketers 80.0%
did cut spending, though, because they feared a liquidity crisis similar
60.0%
to the crash of 2008-09. Others held back because their business was
strong, but their supply chains could not keep up, making advertising 40.0%
potentially damaging to the brand and financially wasteful. In the end,
20.0%
quick action from central banks and other authorities prevented a
liquidity crisis, and the supply chain issues resolved themselves over 0.0%
the summer, freeing up marketers to return to their normal spending

20 4
3
20 Q1

20 Q1

20 Q2

20 4
3
20 Q1

1
2

2
20 4

4
3

20 Q3

3
20 Q1

20 Q1

20 Q2

20 4

-Q
-Q

-Q

-Q

-Q
-Q

-Q

-Q

-Q
-Q

-Q

-Q

-Q
-

-
-

-
-
-20.0%

-
19
18
16

17

20

21
16

17

19
18

18
16

16

17

17

19

19
18

20

20

20
levels over the course of the year.
20

20

20

20
20

20

20

20

20
-40.0%
There were also several ways that government interventions helped
EU27 Japan UK US Aus tralia
prevent the pandemic from taking a more considerable toll on the
advertising market than it did. Stimulus payments and other
Source: For Japan, OECD Timely Indicators of Entrepreneurship; For Australia, ASIC New Company Registrations; For
“hibernation” policies directed at households and large and small U.S. IRS data for Employer ID Numbers; for UK ONS Counts of Business Births; for EU Eurostat Business Registration data
7
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

Beyond SMBs, marketers who could be characterized as be true even if the typical like-for-like advertiser does not change
performance-based, who build their businesses around their apps the percentage of revenue they allocate to advertising.
or are dependent on digital services such as mobile gaming—what
The return of film studios and the travel industry as big advertisers
we call Digital Endemics—have massively increased their spending
is another factor at play this year. With all these factors put together,
on digital media. This activity has been catalyzed by changes in
growth should be very robust in 2021 and 2022, and even stronger in
consumer behavior during the pandemic, by easy or ready access
most markets than we might have expected six months ago.
to capital and by public securities markets looking to reward rapid
top-line growth over enhanced profitability. We can point to dozens
of companies that capture these trends, and each spends hundreds
of millions or billions of dollars on advertising every year. Digital Endemics:
Overlapping these trends, we can also point to new forms of cross- Revenue and Advertising
border ad spending that primarily originate with Chinese 40.0%
manufacturers and merchants. This is mainly driven by small and
mid-sized companies who either buy directly from the likes of 30.0%
Amazon—according to recent data from Marketplace Pulse, half of
Amazon’s 10,000 largest marketplace sellers globally are based in
20.0%
China, with figures ranging from 36% in Japan to 62% in Spain—or
via intermediaries like Wish, who last year incurred $1.6 billion in
10.0%
spending on advertising in markets around the world, primarily on
social media. Each of Facebook, Google and Amazon undoubtedly
generate many billions of dollars in revenue from companies 0.0%
2017 2018 2019 2020 1Q21
operating solely in China despite limited operations in that market.
-10.0%
These factors illustrate accelerated levels of creative destruction
within the economy and could very well be the cause of the high
-20.0%
levels of growth we are currently seeing in advertising. We can
further imagine that as new businesses are formed with different Median Company Advertising as % of Revenue Median Company Revenue Growth
Median Company Advertising Expense Growth Weighted Average Advertising Expense Growth
conventions related to advertising—say, more focused on
e-commerce or digital media than the businesses they effectively
replaced—and as those new businesses account for a more Source: Company reports and GroupM analysis of Activision Blizzard, Airbnb, Amazon, Applovin, Booking, Dropbox,
significant share of the overall economy, advertising growth rates Ebay, Etsy, Everquote, Expedia, Facebook, Glu Mobile, GoDaddy, GoodRx, Google, Grubhub, IAC (including Match),
LendingTree, Lyft, Netflix, Paypal, Playtika, Square (ex-Bitcoin revenue), Trip, Uber, Wayfair, Wish, Wix, Zillow and Zynga.
could accelerate relative to our forecasts. Mathematically, this would Note that advertising growth in 1Q21 is assumed to match sales and marketing expense growth. Sales and marketing
is disclosed by all these companies every quarter, while advertising expense is typically only disclosed annually.
Advertising is typically the primary component of sales and marketing expenses for these companies.

8
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

TELEVISION
Television is now expected to grow by 9.3% in 2021, an improvement As they invest further in their streaming platforms, Connected TV+ will
from our prior 7.8% expectation. Beyond this year, we expect low also continue to grow. We estimate that globally Connected TV+
single-digit growth for the broadly defined medium, including what inventory accounted for $16 billion in media company ad revenue, up
we call Connected TV+ (see sidebar for how we are defining by 25% over 2020 levels. We anticipate Connected TV+ ad revenue
Connected TV+). Many of the largest marketers rely on television will grow to $31 billion globally by 2026, a 14% CAGR.
because of its unique capacity to help them build or reinforce the
strength of their brands by borrowing the brand equity of content
and pairing that with uniquely broad and deep reach and frequency.
Though they may choose to shift some of their budget to digital
media as their business profile and priorities evolve, much of that
By spending billions of dollars on
loss is offset by large digital or web-endemic brands that decide to content annually, Netflix, Disney,
enter the market for television advertising.
Amazon and Apple have already
However, TV’s unique reach advantage is set to erode at a relatively
rapid pace in the near term as investments in ad-free or ad-light
established a presence in almost every
streaming video services—mostly U.S.-based—dominate the global major market on earth.
industry going forward. By spending billions of dollars on content
annually, Netflix, Disney, Amazon and Apple have already
established a presence in almost every major market on earth.
AT&T’s Warner Media—prospectively set to combine with
Discovery Communications—and ViacomCBS have announced
plans to do the same. Comcast will likely further expand its global
footprint before long as well. See our Key Media Trends section on
Global Streaming Video for more on this.

Each of these companies, individually and collectively, represents

a competitive threat to media owners operating in only one or a
handful of markets, as most of the world’s incumbent TV network
owners presently do.

9
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

OTHER MEDIA
AUDIO, PRINT, OOH AND CINEMA
AUDIO
Expectations for audio were raised significantly in this update,
with a forecast now at 18% growth rather than December’s
8.7% level. However, following 2020’s 27% decline, even with
these revisions, we do not expect the medium to return to 2019
levels any time soon.

Newer forms of radio—particularly podcasting and streaming

audio services—help provide some “sizzle” to the medium.
Beyond perceptions of podcasting as an appealing format, the
sector is improving its commercial potential. Large traditional
broadcasters are licensing or acquiring growing numbers of
third-party or independent producers or packagers of podcasts
along with related technologies.

All of this makes it much easier and more desirable for large
brands to deploy resources into the medium. At the same time,
the vast majority of radio ad inventory and the bulk of the
industry’s advertiser base skews local or regional and small or
medium-sized. Both factors are negative in a world increasingly
oriented around larger brands with national or global orientations.
Those orientations tend to cause marketers to skew their
advertising budget allocations toward digital media and television.

10
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

PRINT OOH
Looking at other media, we expect print, including newspapers and By contrast, outdoor advertising should fare much better, growing by
magazines, to continue to decline on an ongoing basis. We forecast 19% in 2021 and then by a CAGR of 6.8% through 2026. Although our
that newspapers will decline by 0.6% in 2021 and then continue to 2021 forecast represents a slightly slower pace of growth than we
fall by 3.6% on average from 2021 through 2026. Magazines should anticipated in December (at which time we forecast 21% growth),
decline by 2.2% in 2021, with another 4.9% decline over the next 2022 expectations are now slightly higher than before. These differences
five years. Where publishers are investing in their properties, they can be explained by noting that a return to normal outdoor activity by
will maintain a capacity for growth and an ability to add tremendous consumers and advertisers is returning, but at a slightly slower pace than
value to marketers’ advertising efforts. Unfortunately, in much of previously anticipated. Longer-term, OOH is benefitting from growing
the industry, the opposite has been occurring over an extended interest in the medium and is aided by new digital formats that allow for
period. Legislative efforts to empower publishers to negotiate incremental sources of demand to emerge. Better targeting, the capacity
collectively with Facebook and Google will help with publishers’ for real-time and/or programmatic buying and the increasing number
bottom lines, but it is unclear whether it will spur publishers to of locations for digital signage are all positive factors.
collectively invest more in their businesses. To the extent that
incremental revenues generated from related licensing activity
are redeployed into content, individual publishers will be poised
CINEMA
to benefit. If this occurs, the industry might be better positioned A subset of OOH in some markets, we expect Cinema advertising to
to reduce its pace of decline. partially recover this year, although a return to 2019 levels will not likely
occur any time soon. We note a significant negative factor for the sector
is the likelihood that film studios will prioritize content development for
streaming services rather than for cinemas. This would have the effect
of reducing audience levels and advertiser interest over time.

11
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

KEY MEDIA TRENDS

GLOBAL
STREAMING VIDEO
In the past, American media giants were content
to develop and produce programming they sold
to local TV networks,
which “owned” the relationship with local cable and satellite indicated that it spent $1 billion in the U.K. alone last year. We can
distributors or consumers and advertisers. Now, wherever it is estimate that it may have spent $3 to $4 billion for the EMEA
practically and legally possible, most of what they produce is sold region in total. For reference, Europe’s leading broadcast group,
directly to consumers as these companies establish direct-to- RTL, which has a large presence in Germany, the Netherlands and
consumer operations in countries worldwide. Notably, a growing France, among other countries, currently spends at a similar level
share of that content will be produced in languages other than English. for its networks. This number may shrink for RTL directly if it is
successful in merging its French network M6 with its primary
While they will sell much of their available advertising directly, there competitor, TF1. However, the latter two companies together would
will be significant pressure to limit how much advertising they pair themselves have a bigger combined budget with which to compete
with their content. The U.S.-based global giants can do this because for French-language audiences.
they are not practically limited in their access to capital. Investors are
more than willing to reward these companies for subscriber growth If Netflix can sustain the growth rate it has experienced in the region
rather than near-term profits. By contrast, media companies operating over every quarter of the past two years—a 35% to 45% annual
in one or a handful of markets with traditional media properties range—we could reasonably expect revenues and content spending
remain more focused on capital efficiency and shorter-term profit could double in the region by 2022, reaching around $6 to $8 billion.
metrics. Companies that maintain such an orientation are unlikely to Assuming there is a linear relationship between share of spending
retain their historical dominance. on content and share of viewing, Netflix’s share of consumer time
would also double from its current levels.
To illustrate why, consider that Netflix generated $8 billion in revenue
from the EMEA region, primarily continental Europe and the U.K., With all the other services similarly expanding in Europe, unless
during 2020. This represented a doubling over 2018 levels. While the the region’s incumbents greatly increase their spending on content,
company doesn’t disclose its content budget on a regional basis, it has viewing shares will similarly shift toward streaming offerings. 12
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

The consequence of all of this is that consumers will increasingly outcomes will become more viable with the new inventory that
view content in streaming environments. This is a net-negative emerges. An evolution in conceptualizing media planning as
for marketers because a growing share of that content will something focused around audience-based targeting concepts—
almost certainly remain ad-free. Advertisers will find television centered on consumer attributes well beyond conventional age
less useful for achieving reach and frequency—two of the critical and gender-based targeting—is also likely to increase further.
characteristics that have long given the medium its unique
As we note elsewhere in this report, this aspect of globalization
power. At the same time, the upside of the wider use of streaming
may present marketers with new opportunities to establish
platforms is that there will be greater opportunities to apply
more uniform campaign standards related to their media
addressable advertising concepts to television. For example,
campaigns worldwide. Global partnerships between marketers
the concept of matching spending choices with business
and a wider range of media owners could deepen as a result.

2020 Pro Forma Content Expenses

($ in Billions)
25
20.6
20
17.5

14.0
15 13.6
13.0
11.8
10.8
10

0
Disney WarnerMedia + YouTube Comcast Via comCBS Ama zon + MGM Netflix
Discovery

Source: Company reports and GroupM estimates of content amortization expense based upon public company data for each company's most recent fiscal year. 13
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

KEY MEDIA TRENDS

GLOBAL
CONCENTRATION
The expansion in advertising in recent years has
happened as consolidation among media owners
has become increasingly pronounced.
To illustrate, we estimate that during 2020, the 25 largest media combined basis, given their common controlling ownership even
companies—including proposed acquisitions—accounted for 67% of all then), News Corp. and Fox (similarly combined here), Comcast and
industry advertising revenue. That same group of companies Disney. Those companies had a combined total of $70 billion in
represented only 42% of advertising in 2016. advertising or 17% of the global total as they existed that year.

Even accounting for a change in the list of companies to reflect only Among the key differences to point out when comparing these
those who would have been in the top 25 in 2016 at constant exchange periods, we note that in 2010, Google was the only seller among the
rates—removing Bytedance, Pinduoduo, Kuaishou, Meituan, Twitter largest media owners with sizable operations in most major global
and JD.com and adding back JC Decaux, RTL, Mediaset, iHeart markets. The others on that list were massive in only a handful of
Media, News Corp. and Televisa-Univision—the trend would be markets, primarily the United States. For all their influence globally,
similar, if less pronounced. The trend would also be similar under at the time, most of the industry’s largest companies only had a
other scenarios, like only looking at the data excluding Chinese minimal global presence in terms of their ad sales operations. By
companies primarily operating in China or by only including contrast, today, the largest sellers of advertising are either focused
companies as they existed at that time. Some of 2016’s companies primarily on China or have a significant presence in most countries
would have been bigger—Fox and Clear Channel, for example—while on the planet. Both Google and Facebook are the largest and second-
others would have been smaller, as with Disney and WarnerMedia. largest in almost every individual market outside of China, while
Amazon is a solid number three in many places.
Looking at the data a different way, consider that the top five sellers
of advertising in 2020—a group including Google, Facebook, Alibaba Looking forward, we can see something like this happening to
and Bytedance—generated $296 billion in ad revenue or 46% of the companies focused on streaming services. As we know, U.S.-based
global total. Ten years ago, in 2010, the top five advertisers would legacy TV network owners, including Comcast, Disney, ViacomCBS
have included Google, Viacom and CBS (which we include on a and WarnerMedia, join Netflix, Amazon and Apple in their active
14
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

development or deployment of their new offerings around the world, 2020'S LARGEST GLOBAL MEDIA OWNERS
pairing massive video libraries with growing investments in local
content. Advertising Revenue in bn $USD 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Google 72.9 87.4 106.3 122.3 131.9

As they do so, they will be positioned to significantly enhance their Facebook 27.9 41.4 57.0 72.2 86.7
positions as sellers of content to consumers and advertising to Alibaba 9.5 15.1 18.3 22.9 28.6
marketers worldwide. To the extent they deploy enough capital in Bytedance 0.8 2.3 7.3 16.0 28.0
this endeavor, they will likely succeed. This will then have knock-on Amazon 4.2 6.3 9.1 13.0 20.3
Comcast (PF) 13.5 13.8 15.9 13.9 12.8
effects on further consolidation among less-well capitalized single
Tencent 3.9 6.2 8.4 9.9 12.6
country-focused media companies. Disney (PF) 11.8 11.5 12.0 11.9 11.2
Baidu 8.8 10.7 11.9 11.3 11.2
For marketers operating globally, lessons related to working with
Microsoft (PF) 6.8 8.1 9.3 10.5 10.3
Google, Facebook and Amazon may play out again. There should Warner Discovery (PF) 10.1 10.4 11.1 11.0 9.9
be advantages in identifying best practices related to working with ViacomCBS (PF) 11.9 10.6 10.9 11.1 9.8
the global streaming services, whether in optimizing the design of Pinduoduo 0.0 0.2 1.6 3.8 7.3
campaigns or ad units, co-developing content, establishing preferred JD.Com 2.1 3.1 3.9 4.9 6.6
Fox (PF) 5.0 5.2 4.6 5.1 5.5
commercial terms, measurement approaches or other aspects of
Verizon Media (PF) 7.2 6.5 5.8 5.6 5.0
working together. Z Holdings (PF) 2.9 3.3 3.9 4.2 4.8
RTL 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.1
Top 5 Media Owner Kuaishou 0.0 0.1 0.2 1.1 3.3
Twitter 2.2 2.1 2.6 3.0 3.2
Global Advertising Share Meituan 0.4 0.7 1.4 2.3 2.9
I Heart Media (PF) 3.1 3.1 3.4 3.5 2.8
800.0 JC Decaux 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.8 2.8
Mediaset 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.1 2.7
600.0 Naver 2.7 2.5 2.8 3.2 2.6
2020'S TOP 25 TOTAL 219.5 262.8 320.0 374.8 426.8
400.0 TOTAL INDUSTRY 521.6 554.8 606.3 653.2 641.0

2020's Top 25 Total Share of Industry 42.1% 47.4% 52.8% 57.4% 66.6%
200.0
Ex-China-Based Companies 206.8 241.3 287.3 323.9 350.1
0.0
TOTAL INDUSTRY EX-CHINA 453.9 474.2 506.7 531.3 513.3
2010 2020
2020's Top 25 Total Share of Industry
45.6% 50.9% 56.7% 61.0% 68.2%
Ex-China
Top 5 Total Total

Source: GroupM analysis of public company data Source: GroupM analysis of public company data
Note: PF = Pro Forma to account for major M&A transactions across all periods 15
 THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

KEY MEDIA TRENDS

CONNECTED TV+
“ It’s all TV
“
to the consumer.
We typically say this when discussing the different forms of television devices, Blu-ray players, streaming box or stick, and gaming
from a consumer’s perspective or even from a high-level marketer’s consoles, or has built-in internet capabilities (i.e., a Smart TV) and
perspective. But among the many forms of television that exist today, is able to access a variety of long-form and short-form web-based
subtle distinctions reflect practical differences in how a service is content.” However, when we hear the term Connected TV used in
delivered or how an advertiser executes or measures a campaign. day-to-day conversation or collateral from media companies, the
Consequently, practitioners have invented a wide range of terms to term can have slightly different meanings. Some would include
communicate as precisely and efficiently as possible. However, in short-form user-generated content, and some would not. Some
doing so, stakeholders who don’t live and breathe the minutiae of would include delivery of content and related advertising to
the business can get lost and conflate terms or concepts, especially consumers via mobile devices, and others would not.
those that use acronyms.
It is not our intention to advocate for a change in the definition of
In our efforts to simplify industry jargon, we previously used the Connected TV that many in the industry have worked to establish—
phrase “digital extensions of traditional TV” to refer to professionally and that many manage their business around. But we do think it’s
produced video content primarily developed for consumption on a worth recognizing that when we say “digital extensions of
conventional television set but viewed on any device. This allowed us traditional TV” and others in the industry say “connected TV,”
to present historical estimates and forecasts for advertising delivered we are usually referring to the same thing.
to a traditional TV set on a linear basis separately from all other types
Consequently, we propose using the term “Connected TV+” to more
of TV-related advertising. At the same time, a different term
specifically refer to the kinds of content and advertising that are
describing non-linear television advertising has taken hold among
typically, but not exclusively, delivered to a connected TV. The “+” is
media professionals: “Connected TV.”
intended to mirror the symbol used by many of the leading media
As it is defined by trade associations such as the IAB, Connected TV companies for their streaming services, which, if ad-supported,
refers to “a television set that is connected to the Internet via OTT deliver advertising to consumers regardless of the device they are 16
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

Global Connected TV+ Advertising Revenue grows independently. It is true that newer forms of advertising can
($ in Millions) bring new demand into a medium, as new formats, new price points
or new forms of targeting may hold different appeal to different types
35,000.0 of advertisers.
30,000.0 However, because of its reliance on relatively expensive video
25,000.0 advertising and its inferior return path relative to desktop computers
or mobile device-based digital media, television is generally unable to
20,000.0 capture spending by the smallest advertisers or capture most of the
15,000.0 spending by the largest performance-oriented marketers. TV does
capture some spending from this latter group, as they increasingly
10,000.0 appreciate the medium's capacity to build brands (and stronger terms
5,000.0 will generally drive better performance metrics). Still, this is relatively
marginal in comparison to the bulk of spending on the medium.
0.0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Even if it is, connected TV+ should continue to grow rapidly as
connected TV+ inventory accounts for a similarly growing share of
Source: GroupM total TV inventory. Most marketers will likely be indifferent to which
type of inventory they buy as long as they reach consumers and attach
using. In most countries, virtually all of this activity will occur on devices their messages to premium video-based content.
considered television sets, but in others—especially India and Southeast
As conventional linear TV inventory viewing levels fall, marketers will
Asia—it is likely to be on mobile devices.
find that the only way to accomplish their reach and frequency-based
Note that concepts such as addressability and programmatic buying goals—which many marketers will likely hold on to for the foreseeable
can overlap with connected TV+ and traditional television inventory future—will be to buy connected TV+ inventory. Growing numbers
alike: Some connected TV+ advertising is bought to maximize of advertisers will also look to take advantage of the other capabilities
addressability, while other connected TV+ advertising is bought solely of connected TV+, such as addressability and the ability to buy more
to reach audiences as they would on traditional TV. Some connected inventory programmatically.
TV+ advertising is bought programmatically, while most of it is bought
on a traditional insertion-order basis. Similarly, some traditional
TV advertising is addressable, and most are not; some traditional TV
advertising is programmatic, while most are not.

Whatever the nuances of the definition, we believe that the most accurate
way to think of forecasting growth for connected TV+ is to look at it as
capturing a share of total TV advertising rather than something that 17
 THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

GLOBAL ADVERTISING MEDIA OWNER AD REVENUE SUMMARY – INCLUDING U.S. POLITICAL

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

TV / PRO. VIDEO $177,333.1 $174,322.8 $179,092.6 $172,949.5 $174,720.7 $168,858.6 $150,897.8 $158,349.5 $166,225.6 $164,891.5 $174,213.6 $169,086.7 $178,506.7

• Growth 3.9% -1.7% 2.7% -3.4% 1.0% -3.4% -10.6% 4.9% 5.0% -0.8% 5.7% -2.9% 5.6%

• Share 37.8% 35.8% 34.3% 31.2% 28.8% 25.9% 23.5% 21.1% 20.2% 19.0% 18.7% 17.5% 17.3%

AUDIO 31,861.3 32,025.2 32,514.6 32,795.6 32,571.6 32,442.0 23,960.2 27,864.2 29,173.8 29,445.1 29,772.7 29,741.8 30,077.0

• Growth 0.8% 0.5% 1.5% 0.9% -0.7% -0.4% -26.1% 16.3% 4.7% 0.9% 1.1% -0.1% 1.1%

• Share 6.8% 6.6% 6.2% 5.9% 5.4% 5.0% 3.7% 3.7% 3.5% 3.4% 3.2% 3.1% 2.9%

NEWSPAPERS 69,534.0 63,358.9 57,905.1 53,087.1 48,380.6 44,120.3 32,032.5 31,673.3 30,291.8 29,011.5 27,968.9 26,947.3 26,341.0

• Growth -7.2% -8.9% -8.6% -8.3% -8.9% -8.8% -27.4% -1.1% -4.4% -4.2% -3.6% -3.7% -2.2%

• Share 14.8% 13.0% 11.1% 9.6% 8.0% 6.8% 5.0% 4.2% 3.7% 3.3% 3.0% 2.8% 2.6%

MAGAZINES 36,231.4 33,749.5 30,958.1 28,808.1 26,766.1 25,113.6 19,869.7 19,297.2 17,903.8 16,887.5 16,214.6 15,523.0 15,082.5

• Growth -6.4% -6.9% -8.3% -6.9% -7.1% -6.2% -20.9% -2.9% -7.2% -5.7% -4.0% -4.3% -2.8%

• Share 7.7% 6.9% 5.9% 5.2% 4.4% 3.8% 3.1% 2.6% 2.2% 1.9% 1.7% 1.6% 1.5%

OUTDOOR 30,863.5 32,416.3 34,475.3 37,531.5 40,499.5 40,188.3 29,909.3 35,254.8 40,041.9 42,379.4 44,866.4 46,932.7 49,188.7

• Growth 3.8% 5.0% 6.4% 8.9% 7.9% -0.8% -25.6% 17.9% 13.6% 5.8% 5.9% 4.6% 4.8%

• Share 6.6% 6.6% 6.6% 6.8% 6.7% 6.2% 4.7% 4.7% 4.9% 4.9% 4.8% 4.8% 4.8%

CINEMA 1,789.9 2,100.6 2,167.1 2,225.6 2,636.1 2,819.7 594.6 1,028.1 1,975.1 2,305.7 2,373.6 2,477.2 2,549.4

• Growth -1.2% 17.4% 3.2% 2.7% 18.4% 7.0% -78.9% 72.9% 92.1% 16.7% 2.9% 4.4% 2.9%

• Share 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2%
DIGITAL 121,209.9 149,513.8 184,450.3 227,432.7 280,769.4 339,612.5 383,754.7 478,245.7 539,169.8 583,095.3 636,056.0 678,188.3 729,477.7

• Growth 20.6% 23.4% 23.4% 23.3% 23.5% 21.0% 13.0% 24.6% 12.7% 8.1% 9.1% 6.6% 7.6%

• Share 25.9% 30.7% 35.4% 41.0% 46.3% 52.0% 59.9% 63.6% 65.4% 67.2% 68.3% 70.0% 70.7%

- SEARCH 63,312.9 72,147.4 82,565.3 95,390.7 110,440.1 124,549.1 130,059.0 156,057.4 177,288.2 189,970.8 205,418.7 216,091.6 230,734.0

• Growth 19.7% 14.0% 14.4% 15.5% 15.8% 12.8% 4.4% 20.0% 13.6% 7.2% 8.1% 5.2% 6.8%

• Share 13.5% 14.8% 15.8% 17.2% 18.2% 19.1% 20.3% 20.8% 21.5% 21.9% 22.1% 22.3% 22.4%

- EX-SEARCH 57,897.1 77,366.5 101,885.0 132,042.0 170,329.3 215,063.4 253,695.6 322,188.3 361,881.6 393,124.5 430,637.3 462,096.7 498,743.7

• Growth 21.6% 33.6% 31.7% 29.6% 29.0% 26.3% 18.0% 27.0% 12.3% 8.6% 9.5% 7.3% 7.9%

• Share 12.3% 15.9% 19.5% 23.8% 28.1% 32.9% 39.6% 42.9% 43.9% 45.3% 46.2% 47.7% 48.4%

TOTAL ADVERTISING $468,823.0 $487,487.0 $521,563.2 $554,830.1 $606,343.9 $653,155.0 $641,018.8 $751,712.8 $824,781.8 $868,016.0 $931,465.9 $968,897.0 $1,031,223.1

• Growth 4.7% 4.0% 7.0% 6.4% 9.3% 7.7% -1.9% 17.3% 9.7% 5.2% 7.3% 4.0% 6.4%

SOURCE: GroupM (includes U.S. political advertising and digital extensions in traditional media categories)
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 THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

GLOBAL ADVERTISING MEDIA OWNER AD REVENUE SUMMARY – EXCLUDING U.S. POLITICAL

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

TV / PRO. VIDEO $174,573.3 $173,830.3 $175,591.9 $171,933.4 $170,413.5 $168,090.1 $143,900.6 $157,350.5 $160,627.9 $163,842.5 $165,817.1 $167,985.3 $169,690.3

• Growth 2.6% -0.4% 1.0% -2.1% -0.9% -1.4% -14.4% 9.3% 2.1% 2.0% 1.2% 1.3% 1.0%

• Share 37.5% 35.7% 34.0% 31.1% 28.4% 25.8% 22.9% 21.0% 19.7% 18.9% 18.1% 17.4% 16.7%

AUDIO 31,611.3 31,967.0 32,214.6 32,695.6 32,171.6 32,224.9 23,473.2 27,614.2 28,773.8 29,195.1 29,372.7 29,491.8 29,677.0

• Growth 0.2% 1.1% 0.8% 1.5% -1.6% 0.2% -27.2% 17.6% 4.2% 1.5% 0.6% 0.4% 0.6%

• Share 6.8% 6.6% 6.2% 5.9% 5.4% 4.9% 3.7% 3.7% 3.5% 3.4% 3.2% 3.1% 2.9%

NEWSPAPERS 69,134.0 63,265.9 57,432.5 52,985.2 48,080.6 44,020.3 31,782.5 31,593.3 30,091.8 28,951.5 27,818.9 26,897.3 26,241.0

• Growth -7.6% -8.5% -9.2% -7.7% -9.3% -8.4% -27.8% -0.6% -4.8% -3.8% -3.9% -3.3% -2.4%

• Share 14.9% 13.0% 11.1% 9.6% 8.0% 6.8% 5.1% 4.2% 3.7% 3.3% 3.0% 2.8% 2.6%

MAGAZINES 36,131.4 33,726.3 30,840.0 28,782.6 26,646.1 25,093.6 19,719.7 19,279.7 17,778.8 16,872.5 16,114.6 15,510.5 15,007.5

• Growth -6.6% -6.7% -8.6% -6.7% -7.4% -5.8% -21.4% -2.2% -7.8% -5.1% -4.5% -3.7% -3.2%

• Share 7.8% 6.9% 6.0% 5.2% 4.4% 3.9% 3.1% 2.6% 2.2% 1.9% 1.8% 1.6% 1.5%

OUTDOOR 30,738.5 32,387.2 34,325.3 37,431.5 40,299.5 40,138.3 29,609.3 35,204.8 39,841.9 42,329.4 44,566.4 46,882.7 48,988.7

• Growth 3.4% 5.4% 6.0% 9.0% 7.7% -0.4% -26.2% 18.9% 13.2% 6.2% 5.3% 5.2% 4.5%

• Share 6.6% 6.7% 6.7% 6.8% 6.7% 6.2% 4.7% 4.7% 4.9% 4.9% 4.9% 4.9% 4.8%

CINEMA 1,789.9 2,100.6 2,167.1 2,225.6 2,636.1 2,819.7 594.6 1,028.1 1,975.1 2,305.7 2,373.6 2,477.2 2,549.4

• Growth -1.2% 17.4% 3.2% 2.7% 18.4% 7.0% -78.9% 72.9% 92.1% 16.7% 2.9% 4.4% 2.9%

• Share 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%
DIGITAL 121,109.9 149,263.8 183,250.3 227,032.7 279,269.4 338,862.5 379,254.7 477,138.4 535,803.6 581,926.5 630,119.2 676,938.6 723,019.1

• Growth 20.6% 23.2% 22.8% 23.9% 23.0% 21.3% 11.9% 25.8% 12.3% 8.6% 8.3% 7.4% 6.8%

• Share 26.0% 30.7% 35.5% 41.0% 46.6% 52.0% 60.4% 63.7% 65.8% 67.2% 68.8% 70.1% 71.2%

- SEARCH 63,312.9 72,147.4 82,565.3 95,390.7 110,440.1 124,549.1 130,059.0 156,057.4 177,288.2 189,970.8 205,418.7 216,091.6 230,734.0

• Growth 19.7% 14.0% 14.4% 15.5% 15.8% 12.8% 4.4% 20.0% 13.6% 7.2% 8.1% 5.2% 6.8%

• Share 13.6% 14.8% 16.0% 17.2% 18.4% 19.1% 20.7% 20.8% 21.8% 22.0% 22.4% 22.4% 22.7%

- EX-SEARCH 57,797.1 77,116.5 100,685.0 131,642.0 168,829.3 214,313.4 249,195.6 321,081.0 358,515.4 391,955.7 424,700.5 460,847.0 492,285.0

• Growth 21.5% 33.4% 30.6% 30.7% 28.2% 26.9% 16.3% 28.8% 11.7% 9.3% 8.4% 8.5% 6.8%

• Share 12.4% 15.8% 19.5% 23.8% 28.2% 32.9% 39.7% 42.9% 44.0% 45.3% 46.4% 47.7% 48.5%

TOTAL ADVERTISING $465,088.2 $486,541.0 $515,821.9 $553,086.7 $599,516.7 $651,249.4 $628,334.6 $748,844.5 $814,507.8 $865,013.8 $915,739.8 $965,712.6 $1,014,676.8

• Growth 4.0% 4.6% 6.0% 7.2% 8.4% 8.6% -3.5% 19.2% 8.8% 6.2% 5.9% 5.5% 5.1%

SOURCE: GroupM (excludes U.S. political advertising and digital extensions in traditional media categories)
19
THIS YEAR NEXT YEAR | GLOBAL MID-YEAR FORECAST

GroupM’s This Year Next Year is published twice a year with the goal of
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This Year Next Year | The Global Mid-Year Forecasts | June 2021
Published June 2021
© GroupM Worldwide, Inc.

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