The world's largest ad buyer indicated that U.S. ad spending is "expected to plunge by 13% this year" in the "latest sign of the toll the coronavirus pandemic is taking," according to Suzanne Vranica of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. GroupM "expects ad spending in the U.S. to drop" to $207.9B this year from $238.8B in '19, "excluding political-ad outlays." In December, the company was "forecasting U.S. ad spending would rise by 4%" this year. The ad contraction is "being felt across the media landscape." GroupM "expects spending on national TV ads to decline 11% this year, compared with a previous forecast of flat growth." Many brands "paused TV spending to make sure their ads hit the right tone while some big advertisers sought to cancel a portion of the spending commitments they had previously made." Advertisers and TV networks were "supposed to begin negotiating deals for the coming fall TV season this month," but companies including P&G, Bank of America and Unilever are "pushing for a delay." Brands have a "lack of visibility into what they would be buying since TV production has been closed and there are still questions surrounding when sports will return." Many marketers also are "still trying to figure out what 2021’s budgets will look like." Still, sources said that some advertisers "want to begin deal-making to take advantage of the uncertainty in the marketplace" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/16).
