• by Wayne Friedman , March 13, 2024

High political ad spending and higher growth from local CTV and digital platforms will boost U.S. local advertising by 9.3% to a projected $172 billion in 2024 versus the year before, according to BIA Advisory Services.

BIA estimates that traditional media -- TV and radio-over-the-air, direct mail, newspapers, magazines, directories, and out-of-home -- will land at $88 billion giving it a 51.3% share of all local advertising. 

Digital media -- OTT/CTV, TV and radio digital, PC/laptop, mobile (smartphone, tablet) and digital print media (newspapers, magazines and directories) -- is projected to total $84 billion, with a 48.7% share.

For 2023, BIA estimated traditional media to total $84 billion and digital media to amount to $78 billion.

This year, total local media political ad spend -- for the Presidential election season -- will be up 15.5%  to $11.1 billion versus the 2020 Presidential election year. Political ads will help significantly boost overall advertising fortunes of local TV over-the-air (up 28.3% to $20.8 billion) and local TV digital (24.9% higher to $2.2 billion).

Besides political, BIA says there will be growth this year in real estate-related advertising (12.5%) and leisure/recreation (4.7%).

With regard to real estate, Nicole Ovadia, vice president of forecasting and analysis for BIA, says in a release: “There’s been so much pressure around home prices and interest rates. We believe later this year, when rates start to decrease, a flurry of activity will generate increased advertising, especially by realtors.”

Automotive, a major local TV category, will slip 1%. “Auto will not make a full recovery to pre-pandemic spending levels through the end of our forecast period in 2027,” says Ovadia.

Two other significant local ad categories will decline -- health care, falling 3.3%; and general services, 2.5% lower.