• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, Yesterday

Amid concerns about consumer price inflation, there's good news for advertisers in terms of the outlook for media price inflation, which is projected to moderate slightly throughout 2025.

Globally, media prices are forecast to rise only 3.9% this year, continuing a deceleration of inflation since 2022, according to the latest edition of ECI Media Management's Media Inflation Report.

The deceleration is actually more pronounced for digital media, which will see price inflation decline six-tenths of a point to 4.0% this year, whereas traditional media will see it decline only two-tenths of a point to 3.8%, according to ECI's projections.

While ECI does not break out explicit percentages for national advertising markets, but based on the eye chart below, U.S. media price inflation looks to be about 4.5% this year -- down a couple of tenths of a point from 2024, with offline rising slightly and online declining.

By medium, U.S. price inflation is projected to be relatively flat, although connected TV (CTV) ad costs will remain deflationary, according to ECI.

"At a regional level, all media types are projected to be inflationary in all regions; the important exception is TV in North America, which is forecast to be slightly deflationary at -0 .5%," ECI Global CEO Fredrik Kinge writes in the report, adding, "This is due to the fact that 2025 will be a quieter year for media investment in the US after the feverish TV buying of the presidential campaigns in 2024. This is further exacerbated by the continued drift of viewers to CTV and streaming options."