WPP Media Offers More Positive Ad Spending Outlook
The U.S. ad business will grow to $490.9 in 2026, up 9.1%, including $13.1 billion in political advertising
Ad buying giant WPP Media says 2025 is turning out better than it expected in terms of advertising growth.
In a new forecast released Monday, WPP Media says ad growth will come in at 8.8% excluding U.S. political advertising.
For 2026 it expects to see growth of 7.1%.
WPP expects the U.S. ad market to hit $633.3 billion by 2030.
“The big difference is in June, we were reacting to more recent tariff announcements. The summer gave us a chance to see how those played out, to see how resilient consumer spending was off the back of those announcements in markets around the world, to see what sort of negotiations and arrangements were made that lessened the impact of some of those tariffs, and so we are now in a better position to gage the end of this year and next year in a more positive light,” said Kate Scott-Dawkins, global president, business intelligence at WPP Media.
Scott-Dawkins added that the influence of the AI boom on what we're seeing within the advertising industry as a whole had an impact on the forecast.
U.S. advertising revenue is expected to grow 12.5% in 2025 (excluding political advertising) to $431.2 billion, accelerating from 8.5% growth in 2024.
In June, WPP Media forecasted 5.6% ad industry growth. The change was driven by tech sector resilience and an economy that has been able to avoid a slowdown.
The U.S. ad business is forecast to grow to $490.9 in 2026, up 9.1%, including $13.1 billion in political advertising.
WPP expects the U.S. ad market to hit $633.3 billion by 2030.
Spending on what WPP Media characterizes as TV/Pro Video to $66.6 billion from $66.3 billion in 2026, up 0.5%. TV/Pro Video is expected to account for 14% of total U.S. ad revenue in 2026, down from 15.4% in 2025.
The decline of traditional TV is expected to accelerate to a 7.6% drop to $40.6 billion in 2026 following a 5.9% decline to $44 billion in 2025.
Connected TV is expected to grow 16.5% to $26 billion in 2026, following up on a 17.8% increase to $22.3 billion in 2025.
TV/Pro Video is expected to generate revenues of $71.2 billion by 2030 with traditional TV earning just $32.6 billion and connected TV collecting $38.6 billion.
“Television faces ongoing disruption, but certain fundamentals remain. Marquee sports events like the Olympics, World Cup, and Super Bowl continue to drive appointment viewing, and ad-supported streaming platforms are sustaining growth. Sports betting has amplified engagement with live sports content,” the WPP report said.
Social/other digital media, which is the largest content channel, is forecast to have advertising revenue and growth of 21.3% in 2025 to $141.3 billion. In 2026, social/other digital is expected to decelerate but still grow 7.4% to reach $151.8 billion, WPP Media said.
“Advertising revenue continues to shift almost entirely away from traditional newspapers to their digital extensions,” the WPP Report noted. Digital advertising will make up about 87% of all newspaper advertising in 2025 and increase to 92% in 2026.”
The media and advertising environment has been changing rapidly, and the report from WPP Media provides a data-based glance at where the business is headed. As the industry consolidates, fewer reports with this level of earnestness are available.
“In a world where media is everywhere and in everything, competitive advantage comes from having the best possible understanding of the constantly evolving advertising ecosystem,” said Brian Lesser, CEO of WPP Media. “This December’s update is a particularly important piece of work as we enter a new advertising era, shaped by AI. It has been crafted to help leaders navigate the crucial, complex transition ahead of us and capitalize on the opportunities that will emerge as the future unfolds.”
WPP Media said the ad industry’s mid-term outlook is being helped by AI-driven productivity gains and new advertiser categories, while downside risks come from fragmentation, fiscal constraints, and labor market disruption.
“Within these aggregate figures, we see the forces of creative destruction at work: streaming video cannibalizing linear television, retail media capturing budget from legacy digital channels, AI-powered answer engines beginning to reshape search behavior, and creator-driven content continuing its displacement of professionally produced media,” the report said.
For the ad business, AI is transforming content creation, media planning, measurement and consumer interaction.“Tools that once required specialized expertise are being democratized. Creative production that once took weeks can happen in minutes. Search behaviors that defined a generation of advertising are being displaced by conversational AI and answer engines. New players — from retail media networks to AI platforms — are capturing share from established media companies.”
But WPP Media warns that “brands cannot abandon proven channels while experimental ones mature. Media companies cannot ignore their current revenue while investing in future formats. The challenge is to manage both continuity and disruption simultaneously.”
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Nielsen said its audience segments from the Nielsen Marketing Cloud are available to advertisers across the Amazon Ads marketplace, including the Amazon DSP and the Amazon Marketing Cloud.
“With our audience segments now in Amazon’s industry leading advertising ecosystem platforms, we offer marketers one of the industry’s best data capabilities to help further drive marketing ROI,” said Kirsten Cummings, general manager, Outcomes at Nielsen.
The Nielsen audience segments provide targeting and activation capabilities across industries including CPG, auto and finance, and includes demographics, shopping behaviors and media consumption.
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Future Today said it has made a deal with Paramount’s Ananey Studios that will bring three high-profile title to Future Today’s Fawesome TV free streaming platform
The three titles are The Malevolent Bride, Rising, and Remnants
“We are thrilled to partner with Paramount’s Ananey Studios to bring these powerful, global stories to Fawesome viewers. The Malevolent Bride, Rising, and Remnants represent bold and diverse storytelling that aligns perfectly with our vision of delivering premium, culturally impactful content to audiences worldwide,” said David Di Lorenzo senior VP, content acquisitions & partnerships at Future Today. As we continue expanding our international portfolio, this collaboration underscores our commitment to offering viewers compelling narratives from the world’s leading creators.”
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