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BusinessToday

Underweight On Media Sector As Digital Ads Takes A Hit In 1H, Falling 43%

Malaysia's advertising expenditure (adex) fell sharply by 28% year-on-year to RM2.3 billion in 1H 2025, missing expectations due to a major drop in digital advertising and the exclusion of RTM's Free-to-Air (FTA) TV channels from Nielsen tracking, according to a CIMB Research report. The omission of RTM channels, which contributed 21% of FTA TV adex in 1H 2024, and a data gap for Awesome TV, skewed results significantly. Adjusted for these, the adex decline would have been a milder 15% YoY. Digital advertising (digidex) was the hardest hit, plunging 43% YoY, driven by a steep drop in YouTube webpage ads and shifting ad spend to untracked formats like mobile apps and smart TVs. YouTube's desktop adex fell to RM127.2 million in 2Q25—just a third of its 4Q23 peak. Traditional media also saw mixed results. While Media Prima's TV3 and TV9 posted strong gains, The Star, Awesome TV, and Sin Chew Daily experienced double-digit declines. Meanwhile, social media and live commerce are gaining momentum. Malaysians spend nearly 3 hours daily on social media, with growing advertiser interest in live stream sales via platforms like TikTok and Shopee. Digital media is projected to grow 7.4% annually, reaching RM3.1 billion by 2027. CIMB revised its full-year adex forecast down to RM4.72 billion (-23% YoY), maintaining an 'UNDERWEIGHT' call on the media sector. The report warned that traditional players face structural challenges, urging radical transformation—including regional expansion and M&As—to remain relevant in a digital-first market