WideOrbit began 2023 with the merger with the Lumine Group (TXSV: LMN.V) in February. Our partnership with Lumine builds on our 25-year foundation and contributes to a robust future for the company, our employees, and our clients. We continued the year by helping our clients improve efficiency with continuous improvements to our linear ad trafficking solutions, introducing WO Traffic v23.0 and WO Network 2023, and continuing the expansion of digital workflows with new cross-media sales and digital order management solutions in WO Fusion and WO Digital Hub.

Below are a few highlights from 2023, with a sneak peek at industry trends for 2024.

A Look Back at the Industry in 2023

Digital TV Growth Continues

As a percentage of overall TV viewing, streaming averaged a 36% monthly share in 2023. Ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) ad revenue hit $19.9 billion, up 27.5% over 2022. That growth is attributed to the increasing adoption of marketplace (programmatic) advertising, which automates the buying and selling of ad inventory, as well as to the ability to target specific audiences based on their interests, demographics, and viewing habits. For the same reasons, CTV ad spend exceeded $24 billion in 2023, up 20% over 2022.

Linear TV Remains Strong

Linear TV dropped below 50% of total TV usage for the first time ever in July, with streaming achieving a record high share of 38.7%, with unmeasured tuning, unmeasured video on demand (VOD), audio streaming, gaming and other device (DVD playback) use making up the difference. . Nevertheless, more than 50% of TV viewing was traditional scheduled programming, across broadcast and cable, every month before and after July and for 2023 overall, reaching 80% of adults 18+. And while the revenue gap between broadcast and streaming continues to shrink, ad spend on linear TV was still almost 2.5 times that of digital, reaching $60.4 billion in ad spend across local broadcast, network, and cable TV

Broadcast Radio #1 for Mass Reach

AM/FM radio reaches 91% of all 18+ Americans monthly, with 65% of that reach occurring outside the home, primarily in the car or at work. Additionally, 90%of in-car audio listening is traditional broadcast radio. US radio station ad revenue in 2023 is estimated at $13.2 billion, $2.8 billion of which came from online radio.

WideOrbit in 2023

We’ve always believed our customers’ satisfaction is the key to WideOrbit’s success. Helping you achieve your business goals is our priority.

• 89% US local TV broadcasters who manage revenue with our software
• $36B+ Ad revenue managed annually with WideOrbit
• 6,100+ Stations and networks run on WideOrbit
• 3,362 Radio stations use WO Automation for Radio

WideOrbit Events and Webinars

The WideOrbit Connect Virtual User Conference took place September 12-13, 2023. Forty-five WideOrbit speakers and moderators presented 27 sessions, labs, and roundtables to 433 attendees representing radio, local broadcast TV, and broadcast and cable network TV. Sessions are available to view on demand via WO Mentor.

We also hosted 10 webinars in 2023, showcasing new WideOrbit solutions, features, and enhancements

Stay tuned for upcoming events on our Events page and watch your inbox for upcoming webinars in 2024. Past webinars are available to view on demand here.

A Look Ahead to 2024

The BIA estimates the local broadcast TV industry will generate $23.8 billion in advertising revenue in 2024. Driven primarily by political, automotive, and legal advertising, $21.7 billion will be in over-the-air (OTA) revenue and $2.1 billion in digital television. Anticipated advertising revenue increase for local broadcast TV is 11% for the year, for both over-the-air (OTA) and digital. However, OTA revenue is still expected to be four times that of CTV/OTT or digital TV.

Meanwhile, Dentsu is predicting double-digit growth in CTV viewership, anticipating a 32.2% increase. The corresponding revenue growth is expected to reach 39.5% for CTV/OTT, according to the BIA, the highest of any media platform, with over-the-air broadcast TV growth expected at 30%, digital TV station revenue improving by 24.3%, and local cable TV increasing by 19.7%.

But even with unparalleled growth in digital, eMarketer predicts that a full two-thirds of combined US TV and streaming ad spend will go to linear TV in 2024.

The big news in subscription streaming in 2024 is the introduction of advertising to Amazon Prime Video in January. The move is expected to add $3.13 billion in anticipated ad revenue to Amazon’s expected overall growth of 85.5%, across Prime Video, Freevee, Twitch, and Fire TV, making Amazon the third largest ad seller in streaming, behind only Alphabet and The Walt Disney Co.

To learn more about how WideOrbit can help with TV, radio, and digital ad sales and order management, please contact us.