Each month, the Australian advertising market tells a different story, and July 2026 was no exception. Our media value data shows that headline spend among the country’s biggest advertisers continued to soften, with top brands pulling back to under $800M in July. Beneath the surface, though, brands are actively changing their media mix. From TikTok’s surprise surge to Channel 10’s comeback, this month’s Australian advertising trends send a clear signal: brands that move fast on channel strategy are best placed to come out ahead when the market turns.
Australian Advertising Trends: Spend Is Easing, With a Late-Year Lift Ahead
Top advertisers’ media spend fell again in July. Our data shows budgets dipped $255M (-2.3%) between 2023 and 2024, to $10.68B, before rebounding 30.8% to $13.97B in 2025.
The outlook is steadier rather than spectacular. Bigdatr’s forecasts for the balance of 2026 point to a more moderate, consistent level of spend, with a campaign peak.
Media Mix: Digital Overtakes Traditional
The shift in media mix is now hard to ignore. Data shows digital channels accounted for 57% of total industry spend in July, with digital display the largest single channel at 35%. Traditional TV remains the second-largest channel at 22%, while radio was the smallest channel at 2%.
Social Media Ad Spend Trends: TikTok Up, Facebook Down
Social media ad spend trends were mixed this month. TikTok grew ad spend by 212% versus the prior month, while Facebook eased 8% and Instagram edged up 2%. Meta’s combined spend dropped about $1.2M. LinkedIn and X together cut spend by $0.68M.
TV Ad Spend Australia: Channel 10 Takes Off
TV ad spend in Australia was also mixed. Channel 10 increased its spend by 63% to take the top spot, lifting its share of TV spend from 17.8% in June to 31.7% in July, growth of nearly 80%. Other networks observed declines in total spend:
- Channel 7: down 28.5%
- Channel 9: down 41.5%
- Foxtel: up 6.8% to $11.92M, overtaking WIN by 41%
Across the TV publishers, spend fell 8.7% month-on-month from $89.92M to $82.08M
Top Advertisers Australia: Sportsbet Leads, Temu Climbing Quickly
Among the top advertisers in Australia, Sportsbet again spent the most in July, though it reduced its total spend by $1.67M to $13.83M. Temu followed, climbing to second with 99% of its spend going to digital display and digital social. Across the top 10 spenders overall, total spend was largely flat at -0.17% month-on-month.
The Takeaway
July’s headline number says the market contracted. The channel-level data says something more useful: TikTok and Channel 10 are gaining ground while established platforms and networks lose share, and the brands repositioning their mix now are the ones set to benefit most when spend lifts again. Whether that’s true for your category and your competitors is a different question, and one worth checking rather than assuming.
Want the full picture? [Read the full July 2026 Top Advertisers report ]
This data comes from Bigdatr, which tracks spend and share of voice across 13 media channels, updated daily. If you want to see where your own competitors are moving their budget this month, start a free trial, or learn more.
References
Bigdatr Australia, Media Value data.
