‘Traditional media owners to struggle’ amid more economic uncertainty

Magna’s latest Global Ad Forecast report now predicts the advertising market will reach US$979 billion in 2025 (A$1.5 trillion), an increase of 4.9% on 2024’s figures. Australia’s market is expected to grow by 5% ,the June update said, with the wider APAC region forecast to be up 4.5%.

Economic uncertainty, however, means the advertising revenues of traditional media owners are expected to erode by 3.2% to US$261 billion. Television ad sales are projected to decline by 5% globally, publishing by 6%, and radio by 1%, while out-of-home and cinema will be up by 5%, the report said.

The year-on-year global fall for traditional media owners can be somewhat explained by the US Election and the 2024 Olympics, both of which boosted media spend at the time. Even with these factors removed in 2025, however, ‘digital pure players’ (DPPs) are forecast to increase their ad sales by 8% to US$709 billion, taking their share of total ad sales to 73%. Search and retail media ads, meanwhile, will rise 8% to US$359 billion, according to Magna.