Coming off of a rocketing political advertising 2020 market, traditional over-the-air local TV advertising is set to decline 19% this year to $14.9 billion, according to BIA Advisory Services.

Still, core, non-political advertising is expected to grow 5.4%, partly reversing a pandemic-driven 23% decline in 2020.

BIA says local TV-owned digital advertising will rise 7% to $1.5 billion this year.

With regard to digital media, Mark Fratrik, senior vice president/chief economist at BIA Advisory Services, stated that TV stations “need to continue to develop strategies that incorporate over-the-top (OTT) sales to reach specific audiences, while simultaneously reaching the broader local viewers.”

OTT are a complementary, but also competitive platform for TV stations, he says.

Among major ad category drivers this year, automotive and direct property insurance is up 33%, totaling $4.2 billion from over-the-air (OTA) and TV online advertising. Health/medical insurance companies will increase 29% to $2.3 billion.

Estimates in 2020 were local TV political advertising contributed $4.4 billion. In 2020, over-the-air TV advertising grew 8% from 2019 to $18.3 billion, with local digital media also rising 8% to $1.4 billion.

Next year, BIA estimates that over-the-air TV local advertising will improve -- growing 20% to $17.8 billion, with digital advertising adding 7% to total $1.6 billion. But core advertising will only inch up 1.9%.