Yes, digital video still has a very long way to go before it draws anywhere near the dollars television commands.
But clearly dollars are starting to trickle away from TV and toward the web, based on the latest ad spending numbers.
During April, digital video spending soared 44 percent year over year, according to a new report from Standard Media Index, which tracks ad spending on the part of 80 percent of U.S. agencies.
At the same time, TV spending fell by 7 percent for broadcast and 8 percent for cable.
“SMI’s data reinforces what most commentators are saying, which is that traditional media continues to remain soft as brands expand their investment in digital,” says James Fennessy, SMI’s chief commercial officer.
“We see large traditional TV advertisers, like retail and financial services, move significant dollars into digital at the expense of their television spend.”
Retail, for instance, reduced TV spending by 12 percent in April, while financial services was down 4 percent.
But both categories upped their spending on digital advertising by double-digit percentages, with a portion of that going to video.