Rising media inflation driving up costs for advertisers

Media inflation is fast becoming a defining challenge for marketers both globally and in South Africa, with costs rising faster than performance metrics can justify.

According to the latest Media Inflation Watch report, South Africa experienced an overall media performance inflation rate of 5.26% in 2024, far outstripping GDP growth, which hovered at just 1%.

The weighted average media rate inflation rose even further, reaching 8.75%, highlighting a widening gap between what advertisers pay and what they get in return.

This trend is not isolated to South Africa. A new World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) outlook report indicates that nine of the top 10 global media markets will see increased media price inflation in 2025, led by the US, where inflation is expected to rise from 2.1% in 2024 to 2.3% in 2025.

The only exception, the UK, still shows early signs of an upward price trend. Preliminary forecasts for 2026 suggest the global situation will worsen, with inflation likely to accelerate even further.

In South Africa, print media is the most heavily impacted, with performance collapsing while rates remain static or only marginally adjusted. Weekly newspapers suffered an 18.57% drop in audience despite a negligible rate increase, resulting in a 25.51% spike in cost-per-thousand (CPM).

Community and consumer magazines followed similar patterns, as did daily newspapers, signalling a structural challenge in aligning pricing with audience value.

Television remains a mixed bag. Free-to-air TV saw a hefty 23.45% rate hike, offset somewhat by a 14.45% performance boost.

Pay TV and Out of Home (OOH), however, emerged as rare bright spots, with improved effectiveness and better value, including a rare negative inflation figure for OOH at -2.53%.

Digital and radio face scrutiny for weak returns. Online display prices climbed 2.13% with no improvement in performance, while radio’s 6.13% rate increase lacks justification due to outdated audience data.

The takeaway is clear. Marketers face escalating costs globally and locally. In an environment where ad spend is under pressure and return on investment (ROI) is king, brands must demand accountability and gravitate toward data-rich, performance-driven platforms or risk paying more for less.

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