The Decline in Ad Spend on Professionally Produced News Content

The Decline in Ad Spend on Professionally Produced News Content

Advertising & Promotions — Wed., May. 21, 2025

Global ad spend on professionally produced news content has dropped significantly according to recent research from WARC Media.

The report was based on WARC's dataset of advertising and media intelligence from around the world. The forecast for 2021 is a 33% decrease from 2019.

In the US, automotive and retail ad spend has decreased in newsbrands while news publishers are targeting tech, healthcare, direct-to-consumer, and B2B advertisers.

The decline in spend on professionally produced news content is part of a larger shift towards user-generated content, with only 51% of global content ad spend expected in 2025 according to GroupM data, as cited by WARC.

About the research: The report was based on WARC's dataset of advertising and media intelligence from around the world.

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