Magna Global spends $250m on YouTube ads as TV audiences fall

In a new $250m three-year deal struck with YouTube, Interpublic Group's Magna Global will receive "competitive rates" on Google Preferred's unskippable ad inventory, with access to measurement tools and top creators. In recognition that millennials are watching less TV, dropping from 32 hours in 2009 to 26 hours in 2016, and YouTube's mobile traffic reach is larger than any TV network, the media-buying giant has diverted the $250m from its TV budget, a figure which is four to five times larger than its current YouTube budget. In a statement, the company said: "Magna Global is prediciting digital spend will eclipse that of total television."

It's YouTube's largest upfront deal ever for its premium Google Preferred program that will be presented for the third consecutive year at its Brandcast event Thursday night in New York as part of the Digital Content NewFronts. As more consumers (particularly millennials) cut the cord, YouTube is pitching advertisers this week on its reach and data. It claims to reach more 18- to 49-year-olds than any TV network with just its mobile traffic.