Digital is on the verge of accounting for one third of Canada’s major media advertising pie, with spending increasing 10.9% to $3.79 billion last year. Digital now represents approximately 30% of all advertiser investment in reported media.
Advertisers invested $12.05 billion in major media advertising in 2014, down slightly from $12.15 billion in 2013, according to the Net Advertising Volume Canada interim report published by the Television Bureau of Canada (TVB).
Spending in unreported media, a group that includes catalogue/direct mail and Yellow Pages, was $986 million, for a total estimated advertising value of $14.03 billion – down 3.1% from $14.47 billion in 2013.
All traditional media with the exception of out-of-home saw declines ranging from 15.4% (consumer magazines) to 0.2% (TV) last year.
Digital revenues, meanwhile, increased 10.9% to $3.79 billion. Digital has added a whopping $3.2 billion in new advertiser spending in just 10 years, an upward trajectory that shows no sign of leveling off.
TV remains the country’s second largest advertising medium, with 2014 revenues of just over $3.5 billion. However, revenues have now declined for three straight years – falling $155 million during that period – as spending continues to migrate to digital.
Despite a sixth straight year of decreased advertiser investment, newspapers remain the third largest source of advertiser spending, with revenues of $2.6 billion for both daily and community publications in 2014. However, that is down significantly from a historic high of $3.8 billion in 2008.
Advertisers invested $1.6 billion in daily newspapers last year, while community newspaper spend was $960 billion.
While radio revenues fell 0.7% from a historic high of $1.6 billion to $1.59 billion, it was the second-highest revenue total in its history. Radio accounted for 13% of reported media ad spend last year.
Out-of-home, meanwhile, notched its fifth straight year of growth, with revenues increasing 1.4% to $521 million. Out-of-home has added $105 million in new advertiser investment since 2009.
Catalogue/direct mail advertising fell below the $1 billion mark for the first time in more than a decade, with spending falling 14.8% to $986 million. Yellow Pages advertising, which took in more than $1 billion in advertising as recently as 2008, also fell to $654 million.
