Data to drive 40% of TV ad spend by 2020

Data-enabled TV spend is expected to make up 40% of all ad spend by 2020, a new report claims.

In a new study published by Comcast’s Blockgraph initiative, advertisers said that 20% of their 2018 TV spending was data-driven. This will rise to 29% for the current year, with accelerated growth to 40% by 2020.

The report – entitled Building the Future of Data Driven TV: The Quest to Create a Safe Identity Layer for the Industry – also found that data-enabled spend has grown at a 42% three-year compound annual growth rate.

“The findings confirmed that advertisers are eager to bring additional data to TV, similar to their use of data in digital media. Yet, there is also the recognition that TV is different,” said Jason Manningham, general manager, Blockgraph. “So, while they are bringing more data to TV, the growth, albeit strong, is actually tempered a bit by today’s challenges.”

The findings came from a new research survey of over 150 advertisers and agencies, commissioned from Advertiser Perceptions, on the challenges, opportunities and importance of bringing advanced data to television advertising.