Digital components drive the dynamics of net spending in traditional media.

Dutch net ad spend is on the rise. Recent data from Nielsen’s full-year 2025 annual report shows that the totalmarket (excluding sponsorship) grew by 6% to reach 6.1 billion euros. 

In the edition of June of the WPP Media Market Monitor, we dive deeper into the figures of traditional media: TV, Print, Out of Home, Radio, and Cinema. Together, these categories still represent about 30% of the total market (approximately 1.8 billion euros). When looking purely at these traditional media types, it becomes clear that thegrowth is almost entirely driven by their digital components—such as Connected TV, Digital Out of Home, andpodcasts. 

Digital opportunities for TV and Print  

Within the video landscape, we see that television across the board is facing a 5% decline in net ad spend. Although linear broadcasting still dominates this market, services within the Connected TV (CTV) ecosystem—which includes video-on-demand and streaming apps—are steadily gaining ground. While linear TV is losing budget, investment in CTV is growing. Currently, digital's share of overall TV spend is still too modest to fully offset the decline in linear TV. However, advertising adoption on CTV is expected to increase rapidly in the near future.

The print sector is also experiencing pressure, with print revenues down by 5% and magazines showing the steepest decline (-9%). Nevertheless, these media brands are increasingly finding success on their digital platforms, althoughthose digital expenditures have been excluded from this specific report. 

Podcasts breathe new life into Audio  

Advertisers increased their net ad spend on radio by 4%. Within the audio domain, the podcast segment in particular is performing strongly compared to the stable foundation of traditional radio. According to previous Audify figures, a significant portion of this podcast growth is driven by new players, such as Podimo, joining Audify and the NMO Podcast Standard. This offers advertisers greater transparency which, combined with a strong intrinsic market growth, is driving these record figures. While traditional radio provides a trusted foundation for direct mass reach, podcasts offer a more intimate environment where advertisers can reach an engaged audience with high impact.

Our latest audio research with Kantar shows that audio campaigns deliver a major boost to your brand across the board: driving an average of +10% in ad awareness and +11% in unaided brand awareness. Within this audio landscape, podcasts are the clear frontrunner with the strongest awareness impact; because of high listener engagement, consumers remember brand messages best in this format. (WPP Media, Kantar)

(Digital) Out of Home and Cinema are catching up  

Remarkably, despite its traditional nature, the cinema niche showed the largest percentage increase at 12%. However, compared to the overall traditional media landscape, this market remains relatively small. 

An interesting increase is also visible within the Out of Home category. Spending rose by a significant 10%, though thisgrowth is increasingly driven by the digital segment (DOOH +11%). 

Conclusion  

Trusted media types are proving their resilience by successfully innovating digitally. This offers advertisers the best of both worlds: the trusted image and impact of traditional media, combined with the data, flexibility, and relevance of the digital world. 

Sources & Research Consulted:

1. WPP Market Monitor

2. Nielsen Annual Report Net Ad Spend 2025 (Netherlands) (including digital components)

3. Audify – Audio Advertising Spend Q3 2025 (including NMO Podcast Standard)

4. WPP Media & Kantar – Audio Drives Brand Awareness (Effectiveness Study)