Ad Market Resumes Tepid Growth In August, 'Traditional' Media's Share Falls Below 20%

Following a World Cup surge in spending in June and July, the U.S. ad market flattened out once again, posting a tepid 0.7% growth in August vs. the same month a year ago, according to just-refreshed data from Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker.

Excluding June and August, and February's NBC's "Legendary Sports" anomaly, the remainder of 2026 has been posting an average of little more than a percentage point in growth as brand marketers big and small grapple with weakening consumer economic conditions.

Not surprisingly, national TV suffered the toughest World Cup comps in August, declining 13.4% versus the same month a year earlier.

Interestingly, digital's share of U.S. ad spending topped 80%, while "traditional" media's share fell below 20% in what appears to be a first for the ad market index.

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Most of August's ad spending growth came from larger advertisers. The top 10 categories rose 2.4% for the month, while all other categories fell 1.2%.

1 comment about "Ad Market Resumes Tepid Growth In August, 'Traditional' Media's Share Falls Below 20%".
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  1. Frank Zazza from iPause Ads, September 28, 2026 at 1:21 p.m.

    Hey Joe, with ad spending growing only modestly, the next question is how clearly each dollar can be accounted for. Reach and impressions still matter, but I expect measurement to move somewhat closer to what viewers actually do after seeing an ad.

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