US Senate Passes TikTok Bill; X to Venture Into CTV; UK Ad Spend Increased 6.1% in 2023

On today’s news digest: US Senate Passes TikTok Bill; X to Venture Into CTV; UK Ad Spend Increased 6.1% in 2023 

Finally, the US Senate has passed the bill which will ban TikTok if its China-based parent company, ByteDance, does not sell it. Biden has expressed intent to sign it. Under the amended version of the bill, ByteDance will be given a year to divest the video platform (instead of six months as was stated in the first version) – if not, it will face a total ban from US app stores. An overwhelming majority voted to pass the bill, with 79 senators voting in favour and only 18 against. It was passed as part of a larger bill which included foreign aid packages. TikTok have made it clear they are prepared to fight the legislation in court. 

Meanwhile, X has announced it will soon be arriving to the big screen with a dedicated TV app for videos uploaded to the social network. In a post on X, CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote: “Soon we’ll bring real-time, engaging content to your smart TVs with the X TV App.”  

In the UK ad landscape, AA/WARC have released their latest expenditure report. The UK advertising industry reported a staggering spend of £36.6bn in 2023, marking a 6.1% increase. This makes the thirteenth annual expansion recorded in the past fourteen years. For the first time, online formats have accounted for over three-quarters of all UK ad spend. 

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