UK ad spend rose 4.2% year-on-year to reach £6.0bn in Q1 2019, marking the 23rd consecutive quarter of market growth and covering the three-month period leading up to the original scheduled Brexit date of March 29, 2019. The figures highlight growth coming from areas including search, online display, TV VOD, online radio, out-of-home and cinema, are contained in today’s Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report, which is unique in its collection of advertising spend data from across the entire media landscape.
The report forecasts growth to £24.6bn for 2019, equivalent to a 4.6% increase, with the UK’s ad market expected to grow a further 5.3% in 2020.
Online advertising expenditure performed notably across a number of formats, with online radio seeing standout year-on-year growth of 26.5% in the first quarter. TV VOD achieved an increase of 17.5% in the same period, while total online display saw an increase of 16.6%. Digital out of home also experienced a good Q1 with growth of 10.9%.
These figures reflect the recent Advertising Pays 7 report from UK advertising’s think tank, Credos, which demonstrated how Britain is the largest online advertising marketplace in Europe and that the UK has the highest per capita online spend in the G20, boosting businesses up and down the country.
Across traditional formats, cinema saw respectable growth of 12.3% in Q1 2019 versus Q1 2018. Growth is forecast for 2019 across the majority of formats, with the greatest increases predicted in online radio and TV VOD.
Stephen Woodford, Chief Executive at the Advertising Association, said: “These figures are testament to the resilience of UK advertising during an uncertain period for business, leading up to the original Brexit date. We see online advertising in all its forms continuing to perform strongly, demonstrating again how the UK is Europe’s leading online advertising marketplace. We hope that the new administration can deliver a business-friendly outcome to our relationship with the EU, ensuring the UK’s domestic advertising market remains robust and our advertising exports, which are world-class, keep growing.
| Full-year forecast summary 2018-2020 | Adspend 2018 (£m) | 2018 v 2017 (% change) | Forecast 2019 (% change) | Forecast 2020 (% change) |
| Search | 6,656 | 14.3% | 9.5% | 9.9% |
| Online display* | 5,332 | 21.4% | 12.8% | 10.1% |
| TV | 5,111 | 0.1% | 0.9% | 3.0% |
| of which VOD | 391 | 29.4% | 18.1% | 16.9% |
| Direct mail | 1,552 | -8.7% | -10.0% | -8.2% |
| Online classified* | 1,451 | -1.3% | 3.5% | 4.7% |
| Out of home | 1,209 | 5.7% | 3.9% | 2.9% |
| of which digital | 603 | 14.7% | 10.3% | 10.8% |
| National newsbrands | 969 | -7.1% | -5.7% | -3.0% |
| of which online | 274 | -2.6% | 1.1% | 6.7% |
| Regional newsbrands | 804 | -9.3% | -8.2% | -5.0% |
| of which online | 228 | 7.6% | 2.8% | 5.8% |
| Magazine brands | 718 | -7.5% | -7.5% | -5.0% |
| of which online | 270 | -0.3% | -0.3% | 0.0% |
| Radio | 714 | 5.1% | 2.9% | 4.7% |
| of which online | 45 | 30.6% | 22.0% | 20.0% |
| Cinema | 254 | -2.1% | 7.1% | 5.6% |
| TOTAL UK ADSPEND | 23,561 | 6.2% | 4.6% | 5.3% |
| * Broadcaster VoD, digital revenues for newsbrands, magazine brands, and radio station websites are also included within online display and classified totals, so care should be taken to avoid double counting.
Source: AA/WARC Expenditure Report, July 2019 |
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| At-a-glance media summary | Q1 2019 v Q1 2018 | Actual versus forecast |
| % change | Percentage points (pp) | |
| Search | 10.6% | -2.4pp |
| Online display* | 16.6% | +1.5pp |
| TV | -2.5% | -2.5pp |
| of which VOD | 17.5% | -8.3pp |
| Direct mail | -12.3% | -4.3pp |
| Online classified* | 0.4% | +11.1pp |
| Out of home | 6.8% | +1.8pp |
| of which digital | 10.9% | -4.5pp |
| National newsbrands | -9.1% | -2.2pp |
| of which online | -10.0% | -15.2pp |
| Regional newsbrands | -11.0% | -4.6pp |
| of which online | -0.2% | -5.1pp |
| Magazine brands | -10.8% | -5.0pp |
| of which online | 0.0% | -1.6pp |
| Radio | -1.7% | -4.0pp |
| of which online | 26.5% | -6.8pp |
| Cinema | 12.3% | +6.7pp |
| TOTAL UK ADSPEND | 4.2% | -0.5pp |
| * Broadcaster VoD, digital revenues for newsbrands, magazine brands, and radio station websites are also included within online display and classified totals, so care should be taken to avoid double counting.
Source: AA/WARC Expenditure Report, July 2019 |
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