TV ad spend to drop 3 percent to $70.3 billion in 2019: report

TV ad spending is expected to drop nearly 3 percent this year to $70.3 billion, falling below 30 percent of total U.S. ad spend for the first time, according to a new report from eMarketer.

And by 2022, eMarketer predicts the amount marketers allocate to traditional TV will drop below 25 percent of total domestic ad spending.

While TV ad spend is expected to receive a 1 percent bump next year, thanks to the 2020 presidential election and Summer Olympics, it won’t stave off a long-term decline in the marketplace. TV spending is expected to decline 1 percent every year after, according to eMarketer.

This comes as the TV industry continues to grapple with viewer fragmentation in the wake of a burgeoning streaming marketplace and intense competition from digital rivals.

It doesn’t help that the amount of time people spend watching traditional TV will drop 3 percent to 3 hours and 40 minutes per day in the U.S, with the biggest declines, unsurprisingly, among those ages 17 and younger, according to eMarketer.  

At the same time, eMarketer said earlier in the month that the connected TV ad marketplace will hit $7 billion this year, increasing 38 percent from last year.