On September 14, 2022, Standard Media Index presented, “The State of play – The Outlook of Premium Streaming Video in Canada” at the Future of TV Advertising Canada event in Toronto, hosted by Mediatel Events. The annual conference was back in-person this year, attended by 500+ professionals across marketing and advertising. Darrick Li, VP North America Sales at Standard Media Index, laid the foundation of real numbers on ad spending in Canada on Linear TV and Digital Video. The video ecosystem is complex, the worlds of Linear TV and Digital Video are colliding, and the ad industry is bracing itself as premium streaming video providers continue to reach new heights in Canada. The presentation focused on the ad spending numbers, the advertising categories that are driving video spending, and put ad pricing into focus as the ad industry faces economic uncertainty. Download the full presentation deck below.
Linear TV still makes up the overwhelming majority of video spend in Canada (72%). To no surprise, this has changed from the 94% share of Linear TV back in 2017. In 2021, the share of Online Video jumped 6 pnts, likely accelerated due to the start of the pandemic. We will continue to see share of ad spending on Digital Video increase into the future, but for the foreseeable future, Linear TV will make up the majority.
These four quadrants demonstrate the advertising categories that have increased their Linear TV ad spending in the last year (x-axis) and the categories that have increased their Digital Video ad spending in the last year (y-axis). If they increased spending in both, they will appear in the upper-right quadrant. Travel Services led with increases across both Linear TV and Digital Video as the category comes out of the pandemic. Automotive has reduced spending across Linear TV and Digital Video as the category continues to be challenged by supply chain issues and chip shortages.
With a predicted looming recession and pricing inflation affecting many industries, there are more and more questions surrounding media inflation and how this economic uncertainty impacts marketing budgets. For Linear TV, Conventional CPMs are up +16% and Specialty CPMs are up +12% versus last year. Digital Video is also under scrutiny, and as new ad supply will start to tilt the scales, Standard Media Index will continue to have a finger on the pulse of how pricing fluctuates across different media, publishers, and audiences.
Despite these headwinds, the Canadian market is a healthy environment for Linear TV and Digital Video advertising investment. Seven of the Twelve advertising categories are growing their spend year over year and technology advancements continue to drive consumer adoption, media consumption, and more advertising investment. We look forward to a promising Future of TV Advertising in Canada!
For more information on the Future of TV Advertising Canada event, please visit: Future of Advertising Canada 2022
