UMA benchmark Media Investments 1st Semester 2026: Local Media capture over 76% of Net Ad Spend as Digital Reaches 40.2%

The United Media Agencies (UMA), in collaboration with partner agencies (AdSomeNoise, blue2purple, Hybrid Agency, and Ogilvy | Social Lab), has released the results of the UMA / UBA Benchmark Media Investments for the first half of 2026. The benchmark aggregates net media investments (excluding technical costs and fees) across 44 product sectors based on MDB (Nielsen Ad Intel) segmentation, providing a comprehensive analysis of the Belgian media ecosystem.

Key Takeaways :

• Belgian Media Dominance: Local media players captured 76.4% of the total Belgian ad spend in H1 2026.
• Digital Market Share Growth: Digital channels now account for 40.2% of the total media market, up from 37.5% in H1 2025 and 35.7% in H1 2024.
• Television Leads Overall: TV remains the single largest advertising medium with 27.5% of the total market share, followed by Radio (15.4%) and Out of Home (13.0%).
• Online Video Expansion: Online video reached 12.5% of total media spend (31.0% of all digital spend), driven partly by shifting investments toward local broadcaster VOD platforms.
• Local vs. International Digital Channels: Where direct competition exists (Display, Video, and Other Digital), local media publishers maintain a dominant share over international platforms (GAFAM).

Breakdown per Medium Type by net Advertising Value on the Belgian Market

Local vs. International Platform Share

Our benchmark reveals also the shares of the big international platforms such as Meta, Amazon, Youtube, Microsoft, X, TikTok, … in the Belgian advertising market.In the digital landscape, global platforms (GAFAM) capture 58.8% of digital investments due to their 100% hold on Paid Social and SEA. However, local media publishers lead in competitive environments such as Display (75.2% local) and Online Video (73.4% local).

Breakdown on the digital channels by net Advertising Value