OTT Question Time #37 – The TV & AVOD Advertising Recovery

Following the huge upheaval in the television and OTT advertising market last year, broadcasters and AVOD service-providers are now cautiously optimistic about the prospects for recovery and growth. ITV, for example, reported that its total ad revenue was down 11% in 2020 despite a 17% rise in VOD advertising. The company is now “seeing more positive trends”. EMarketer estimates that Hulu’s ad revenues will hit $3bn in 2021, up 31% on 2020. And GroupM has revised its 2021 expectations for advertising growth in the UK to 13% – which is 8% above 2019 levels.

What are the drivers behind these forecasts? That was the subject of this week’s OTT Question Time (Thursday 10th June, 4pm UK).

Together with Simon Thomas, Global Director of Audience Research and Media Investment Management at GroupM, Stephen Byrne, MD of Nordics and Exec Director for New Partnerships at Smartclip, and Daniel Wohlfart, Principal Product Manager for Advanced Advertising at Synamedia, we explored:

• Why advertisers are returning to television
• The sectors responsible for the biggest growth
• How 2020 opened up the addressable market to SMEs and non-traditional TV advertisers
• Broadcasters forming advertising alliances across Europe
• And some of the solutions that are powering cross-platform and device advertising

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