SMI U.S. Ad Market Release Note: January 2022
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U.S. Ad Market Tracker
January 2022 SMI U.S. Ad Market release note
Jan 2022 ad spend surpassed Jan 2021 by $1.1bn, growing +19% year-over-year, hitting a new record high for the month (per SMI Core data which goes back to 2017).
Digital investment led the push for growth across all channels, attracting the lion’s share of incremental dollars. Digital remained the only channel with double-digit quarterly increases vs. the prior year, going back to Q4 2020.
Linear TV also contributed to the upward momentum across channels YoY, as Broadcast TV (+19%) offset modest Cable TV decline (-3%).
OOH continues to make positive upward strides, rising +133% in Jan 2022 YoY. In fact, OOH neared peak levels for the month of Jan, not seen since 2017.
Product Category Analysis
Technology moved to the # 1 position once more, outperforming CPG as also seen in December, with a +31% boost over Jan 2021. All Subcategories within Technology increased investment during Jan 2022, pushing the overall category +25% beyond 2019 levels.
Auto was the only category to experience a reduction in ad revenue, -7% vs. Jan 2021. From a YoY perspective, the sector has reduced monthly ad spend since August 2021, amid publicly noted supply side challenges.
Entertainment & Media (+49%) expanded sharply as Motion Pictures and TV Networks exhibited the heaviest upward momentum, leveraging Digital & returning to stronger Linear TV presence YoY.
More SMI Insights
Some other recent highlights from the SMI Insights team include these:
