SMI: TV and Digital pushed ad spend 15% higher in September, Australia beats pre-pandemic growth

News 1 Nov 2021 - 2 min read

SMI: TV and Digital pushed ad spend 15% higher in September, Australia beats pre-pandemic growth

By Sam Buckingham-Jones - Senior Writer

Jane Ractliffe from SMI says September ad spend was high

“The Australian market has delivered another month of much improved advertising demand, but the month has been unusual given the very strong focus on the TV and Digital media,’’ SMI AU/NZ Managing Director Jane Ractliffe says.

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Tags: SMI

Ad spend rose in almost every category in September, SMI figures show, but the meteoric rise of Out of Home was muted as extended lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne bite. TV and Digital represented more than 80 per cent of all ad spend.

What you need to know:

Ad spend for the month of September jumped 15.5 per cent yearon-year, SMI figures show.
This means quarterly ad spend rose 29.4 per cent yearon-year.
Quarterly spend passed $2 billion for the first time since the September 2018 quarter.

Advertising spend from Australia’s media agencies continued its post-Covid recovery, growing by almost 30 per cent in the September quarter year-on-year, Standard Media Index figures show.

Billings for September jumped 15.5 per cent from the Covid lows of 2020, with Television and Digital making up 81.6 per cent of all ad spend.

Lockdowns over the past few months in Sydney and Melbourne appear to have finally registered in ad spend, with Outdoor Media’s growth limited to 3.8 per cent. Cinema rose 76.8 per cent.

“After more than three months of lockdowns in our two most populous cities, it’s inevitable they would eventually again affect the Outdoor media and that’s certainly the case this month as the September month is the first in five in which Outdoor has not delivered double-digit levels of ad growth.”

September quarter bookings are up 29.4 per cent compared to the same quarter last year, and 4.6 per cent above 2019.