Industry body ThinkTV has announced the total TV advertising revenue figures for the six months to December 31, 2018.

The total TV market including metropolitan free-to-air, regional free-to-air and subscription TV recorded combined revenues of $2.08 billion, which was 4.56 per cent lower than comparable revenues for the same six months a year earlier.

In the December half, the advertising market for metropolitan free-to-air and subscription-television fell by 3.97 per cent to $1.70 billion versus the same period a year earlier.

Broadcast video on demand (BVOD) advertising revenues – which include advertising revenues from online catch-up services and the live online streaming of TV over the internet – grew by 42.95 per cent in the six months to December 2018 versus the same period a year earlier. This was aided by the prodigious growth of BVOD platforms such as Foxtel Now, 9Now, 7plus and 10 Play.

ThinkTV chief executive Kim Portrate said the performance of total TV revenues reflected the weaker overall advertising market versus the same period a year earlier due to cyclical factors such as the same-sex marriage plebiscite in 2017, the absence of the Ashes Test Series in 2018, and the Hayne Royal Commission throughout 2018.

“The Total TV figures represent a respectable performance in challenging market conditions for all media, particularly given the tougher comparisons in the last half due the return to growth of the free-to-air metropolitan market in the six months to December 2017,” said Portrate.