The latest SMI (Standard Media Index) numbers, driven by media agency numbers, show the return of advertisers, especially to the television market.
As expected September weakened with ad spend down 24.3% in September as key sporting events and attached advertising moved to October.
However, the shift of events into October is expected to produce a bumper month. And forward booking data shows advertising demand for November returning to pre-COVID levels.
"While September is affected by the shift in footy finals, we are anticipating that October and November will see signs of recovery (it’s a long road but we are pointing in the right direction) as the market is buoyed in Q4," says Pia Coyle, head of investment at Ikon.
"Tight avails across TV, Radio and OOH signals demand is coming back, albeit not to the levels of last year quite yet.
"October and November particularly in TV will see decent numbers given footy (finals in Oct and origin in Nov) and also the demand we are seeing currently for TV.
"We look forward to seeing how strong the recovery looks in coming months."
Independent agency Pearman Media: "If you’ve tried to buy TV in December lately you will know how well the TV stations are doing due to the lack of available airtime."
The agency says advertising spend seems to be continuing to recover.
"This is particularly the case when we know the October figures are looking to be down by low single figures and November is looking better again," says Pearman in its client newsletter.
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