Television is increasing its profitability in advertising spending against other traditional and new media in the Asia Pacific, though its days of domination are numbered. Research firm, eMarketers, predicts that globally, by year 2015, television’s lead over its closest competitor, the internet, will be reduced by 7.1 per cent.
At present however, television still leads by a distance. The medium increased its share of the Asia Pacifi c advertising market in Q1 this year, against newspapers, radio and magazines by 2.8% year-on-year, from 63.2% to 66.1%, according to Nielsen Global AdView’s report on TV Ad spend in the Asia Pacifi c.
On its own, television increased advertising revenue by 17.4 per cent year-on-year in Q1, registering US$33 billion, an increase of US$5 billion against 2010. The categories that rank the highest are healthcare, cosmetics and toiletries, food, beverage and entertainment.
As a region, Asia Pacifi c drove global ad growth in the same period by 12.4 per cent, the highest in the world.
According to Nielsen Global AdView’s report, one reason for the increase in television ad spend, is the growth of television brought about by an increase in Pay-TV penetration. This is backed by fi ndings from a Media Partners Asia (MPA) study, which stated that Pay-TV subscriptions in the Asia Pacifi c grew by nine per cent in 2010 to reach approximately 375 million people by the end of the year.
Additionally, around eight million households in the region subscribe to multiple Pay-TV platforms, bringing the total number of Pay-TV households in the Asia Pacifi c to 367 million at the end of 2010, an estimated 48 per cent penetration of all TV homes.
Globally, television dominates traditional media in ad spend as well. Nielsen reported that TV ad spend stands at 65.3%, an increase of 11.9% from 63.5% the previous year.
But while television beats out other traditional media in a whitewash – 66.1% for TV to 26.4% for newspapers, its closest competition – the internet on the other hand, is giving television a tougher run for its money.
Currently, television leads the internet by 20.7 per cent in ad spend. However, by 2015, the difference between the two will fall to 13.6 per cent. With the rise of IPTV, people now have the option of going online to watch content they previously could only watch on the television. Furthermore, the convenience and option of choice IPTV affords to viewers might result in fewer and fewer people turning to television to access content.
