New research from Guideline shows that while the overall ad market remains strong, hitting record levels in February 2024 ad investment tracking back to 2017, linear TV hit a historical low. The 7% year over year decline in February for linear TV follows a 7% decrease for Linear TV in Q4 2023.
The latest numbers from Guideline (owner of Standard Media Index, Lumina, and SQAD) captures actual agency invoicing data from all major holding companies and most major independents.
Meanwhile, digital media ad spend saw a 22% increase YoY in February 2024, exceeding a 60% media mix allocation threshold for the first time and retail media spend increased by 35% YoY in the first two months of 2024 (Jan./Feb.) – up 59% compared to the same time period in 2022.
Guideline also reported that all product category groups expanded ad spend in February 2024, except Apparel & Accessories, which fell 13% YoY – driven by decreased spend volume in Digital and Linear TV.
The study also found that the digital media ad spend rose 19% in January and February of 2024 compared to January and February of 2022 and 20% compared to the same two month period last year. In contrast traditional media fell by 20% in January and February compared to 2022 and dropped 7% compared to 2023.
