• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 7, 2015

According to a recent comScore report, digital advertising is expected to become the No. 1 media category in 2016. Revenue for the category totaled $49.5 billion in 2014, up 16% from the previous year, the report said. The first quarter of 2015 had $13.3 billion in revenue, also a rise of 16% from the year-earlier period. Digital advertising is now equal to about 80% of TV ad spend and is forecast to surpass TV next year.

But this doesn't spell the end for TV ad revenue streams just yet, says comScore co-founder Gian Fulgoni, says "… there is yet no evidence that television advertising in total is dropping… "

Fulgoni said he was particularly impressed with Facebook's market share of digital ads. The company reported that its daily average users in the second quarter came in at 968 million, besting Wall Street's expectations.

Sheryl Sandberg, the social network's chief operating officer, says that "… people are spending more time on their mobile devices and on Facebook apps… the company gets more than one out of every five minutes spent on smartphones in the U.S…”

Advertising revenue, $49 billion in 2014, forecast at $69 billion in 2016, is expected to reach $95 billion in 2019 according to the report. TV, meanwhile, is expected to remain somewhat flat around $66 billion during this period, as print continues to decline to $10 billion by 2019.

Mobile and video are the fastest-growing segments of digital advertising, according to the report. The two formats, along with static banners and some other forms of display ads (but excluding search), had total revenue of $26 billionin 2014.

Fulgoni says, “… as Facebook monetizes its video feeds more and more… there are… tremendous opportunities for them…"

For the original release, please visit here.