Summarised by Centrist
New data shows that billions in advertising revenue are still leaving New Zealand each year, fuelling global tech giants while local media fight to survive, but the story barely made the news.
The Advertising Standards Authority’s 2024 report revealed total ad revenue in New Zealand rose to $3.6 billion – but most of that growth went offshore. Digital advertising now makes up nearly two-thirds of all ad spend, and the lion’s share goes to platforms like Google, Facebook, and TikTok. Local TV and newspaper ad income continues to decline, down 8% last year.
Infometrics chief economist Brad Olsen says traditional media remains in long-term decline. “Digital has increased by 14% per year over the past decade, while non-digital has dropped 2.3% annually.” Even with modest growth in digital arms of radio and TV, “the numbers just don’t stack up,” he says. “Social media is still blowing everything else out of the water.”
Former Herald editor Gavin Ellis says the ad drain is gutting the industry. “Imagine if our health system was being forced to downsize because its revenue was being sent offshore – there’d be outrage.”
