GroupM

Kirk McDonald, who has been heading up AT&T’s Xandr advanced advertising unit, has joined the ranks of executives leaving the company.

Giant media agency GroupM expects that global ad spending, not including U.S. political activity, will decline 11.9% during 2020, followed by 8.2% growth in 2021.

Forecasting advertising spending during an unpredictable worldwide pandemic is easier than it sounds, according to Brian Wieser, global president, business intelligence, at media buyer GroupM.

Television advertising spending in the U.S. is expected to fall 7% to $61.07 billion in 2020 and another 12% next year, according to a new forecast from GroupM.

With technology and a pandemic remaking the media landscape, media agency GroupM has issued a new report on brand safety for marketers that focuses, in part, on connected TV.