What you need to know: 

• TV revenues for 2021 were up 20 per cent to $4.14 billion. 
• BVOD revenues rose 68 per cent to $362 million, but are still just 8.15 per cent of total television. 
• The figures demonstrate a remarkable bounceback from the downturn in 2020, when revenues dropped 10 per cent. 

The dollar figures from television’s bumper year in 2021 have been released, with television revenues up 20 per cent in the 2021 calendar year to $4.14 billion.

ThinkTV, an organisation promoting television to marketers as part of the Premium Content Alliance, released its annual breakdown of television revenues, splitting it out by Total TV, Metropolitan Free to Air (FTA), Regional FTA, National and broadcast video on-demand (BVOD). These figures do not include SBS, made $130 million from advertising and services in 2021.

In 2020, after the ad market felt the crunch of the first wave of the pandemic, Total TV revenues dropped 10.7 per cent to $3.45 billion. This year, revenues bounced back 19.9 per cent – and they bounced back across all areas. Investment in BVOD – platforms like 7plus, 9Now, 10 Play, Foxtel Go, Foxtel Now and Kayo – rose 68 per cent over the same period, from $216m in 2020 to $337m in 2021.

“TV is part of the fabric of our lives and these results show how important Total TV is to advertisers looking to connect with Aussies every day,” Kim Portrate, ThinkTV CEO, said.  

“The impressive growth in the past 12 months is evidence that advertisers looking to build and grow their brands understand Total TV needs to be the cornerstone of their media plans.”

ThinkTV also breaks out the share of revenue in the second half of the calendar year, as per the graph above.