Ad spending in the UK is predicted to grow 5.5 per cent in 2026, according to ad spend provider Guideline. Q1 spending is expected to grow 6 per cent, with the Olympics and an improving economy helping to boost spending.

The Olympics and World Cup will also help offset linear declines, with linear contracting just 2.6 per cent for the year. Connected TV (CTV) is predicted to have a strong 2026, up 15 per cent, followed closely by social, up 11 per cent.

Additional findings include: 

• The UK ad market finished 2025 +5 per cent, a slight slowdown from 2024 (+6 per cent), nearing £12 billion (€13.6bn) in Guideline’s data. Linear continued to decline -12 per cent, with free-to-air coming in lower with advertiser’s cutting budgets, declining rates of TV licensing and hard comps against the Men’s Euro Championships from 2024.
• CTV accelerated growth this year, coming in 21 per cent year-on-year as consumers are increasingly switching to ad-supported viewing options.
• Despite the increasingly cloudy global economy, ad spend will likely finish +7 per cent in 2025. This growth was driven mostly from social (+17 per cent), retail media networks (+17 per cent) and search (+15 per cent)
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• The global forecast for ad spending in 2026 is +4 per cent, led by search (+7.5 per cent), followed closely by social at 6.8 per cent.

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Categories: Advertising, Articles, Broadcast, Markets, Research

Tags: advertising, Guideline, UK