Increased engagement with politics and sports is driving video ad revenues

Online shopping has become a sport during Thanksgiving week and beyond, and it's also starting to play a role in the holiday meal itself. In many ways, the convenience of buying groceries online seems well-suited for larger-than-usual gatherings, even if it is used by only a small number of consumers.

Another blow to the auto industry was the cancellation of live sports. Traditionally, car advertisers invest heavily in linear TV advertising against major sports programming. Some car advertisers pulled a portion of these dollars and planned to reinvest them later in the year.

eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson, junior analyst Blake Droesch, and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss Oracle winning the TikTok bid, the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo definitely happening next year, CBS All Access being rebranded to "Paramount+," "YouTube Shorts" being tested in India, Americans' 2020 travel plans, what living creature is technically immortal, and more.

Esports has not accounted for much of the heightened media usage during lockdown, and survey respondents have expressed a stronger preference for other sports-related activities. However, video game tournaments starring professional athletes and the increased presence of esports on linear TV may help to expand viewership.

In this "Behind the Numbers" playlist, we talk all about streaming sports in various markets, including the US, Latin America, Europe and APAC. Our analysts break down the audience, content, platforms and marketing opportunities in these regions.

The cancellation of live events—including concerts, theater shows, and sports—has caused entertainment advertisers to pull back their ad spending significantly. This year, digital ad spend in the US entertainment industry will drop by 6.9% to $7.03 billion. Spending should recover in 2021 as live entertainment returns. 

We were able to do that through the creation of a digital "Holiday Gift Guide," which we published across six different properties in our portfolio, ranging from the "Today" show to Bravo to Telemundo, and then even into NBC Sports and Syfy. We saw incredible success in terms of the actual commerce that we drove through the Gift Guide.

We expect COVID-19 measures will hit TV hard in 2020, as sports leagues and international sporting events are delayed or canceled. The pandemic exacerbated print’s existing struggles. OOH will be the most impacted by mandated social distancing. Furthermore, the lingering effects of avoiding crowded spaces may put a chill on such advertising for years to come.

This pattern mirrors other markets globally; during mass quarantines and periods of limited movement, there is very little demand for outdoor advertising like billboards, and zero demand for cinema advertising or live sports arena displays. Even now, as the population in China has emerged and gone back to work, cinemas and sports leagues are not yet back up and running at pre-pandemic levels.

However, we have revised our figures down significantly for many reasons, including the cancellation of the 2020 Summer Olympics, the postponement of live sporting events, and an increase in cord-cutting. US TV ad spending is now expected to decline by 15.0% this year to reach $60 billion, down from $70.59 billion in 2019.

eMarketer sales executive Michael Bruckenthal, midmarket account manager Brandon Galindo and vice president of content studio—and author of our recent report, “Esports 2019: eMarketer’s Forecast for US Audience, US Ad Revenue Growth”—Paul Verna discuss the burgeoning world of esports. They chat about how different stakeholders are investing in this space, who’s watching, how large are the prize pools and audiences compared with traditional sports and marketing opportunities for advertisers.

Sidelined athletes from traditional sports took their talents to the virtual space and participated in amateur esports tournaments within their respective sports. For example, the NBA 2K Players Tournament in April 2020 featured 16 NBA players, including Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets and Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, who competed against each other to raise money for charity. US Rep.

While OOH ad spending went down, demand for OOH also declined, due to canceled sports in H1. Although fans aren’t packing the stands and being exposed to arenas’ sponsored signage like they were prior to the pandemic, the return of some sports could still boost OOH ad spending in H2 2020. Nascar, MLB and NFL have considered covering empty seats with sponsored tarps and virtual ads.

The cancellation of live events—including concerts, theater, and sports—has caused entertainment advertisers to pull back their spending significantly. However, the popularity of streaming services and gaming during the pandemic has pushed some of these advertisers to keep spending.

Although the return of more reliable and nearly-full-length sports seasons will help TV, viewers are showing increasing willingness to access sports via livestreaming or to forego them entirely. TV’s losses are expected to worsen going forward.

All this week, "Behind the Numbers" is focusing on sports streaming around the world. In the third episode, we turn our attention to APAC. What sports and events are driving uptake in China? Where are esports the biggest thing? And what about cricket?