BIA is forecasting that ad spend on local television will be $21 billion in 2022, with $19.3 billion going towards over-the-air television ads and $1.7 billion going to digital television ads. This is an increase of 26.5% from 2021 local ad spend of $16.6 billion ($15.1 billion Over-the-air TV and $1.5 billion TV Digital). Over-the-air TV is forecast to garner 11.9% of the $161.5 billion local advertising spend in 2022, with TV Digital taking an additional 1.1%.

When you drill down into sub-vertical ad spend, it’s interesting to track where there is spending on local television advertising in 2022. According to BIA estimate’s, the five sub-verticals spending the most on local television are virtually the same for over-the-air and digital:

• Political
• Legal Services
• Education
• Health
• Leisure & Recreation
• *Note: Auto continues to be a top advertiser in local television but local markets are experiencing fluctuation in ad spend due to supply chain issues affecting new car production.

With mid-term elections occurring in 2022, Political will be, by far, the biggest spender on local television ads (both over-the-air and digital) in 2022, with $3.36 billion going to over-the-air TV and $246 million going to TV digital. In fact, the spend in local television (OTA + digital) represents nearly 48% of the projected 2022 total local ad spend on Political of $7.5 billion.

Speaking at the 2021 TVB Forward Conference, BIA’s CEO Tom Buono, explained that political advertising spending will be extremely strong for a significant portion of 2022. BIA expects next year to rival 2020 and even experience further expansion by 2024.

The top five markets for next year’s political advertising will be New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Philadelphia.

In early September, BIA released its 2022 U.S. Local Advertising Forecast for 16 media, including local broadcast television, and 96 business sub-verticals. The five-year forecast is available for all 210 local television markets and is based on a proprietary forecasting methodology of the local advertising marketplace. Forecast data is delivered by the local advertising intelligence dashboard, BIA ADVantage. For subscription details, email sales@bia.com.