WHAT'S NEXT?: Break up of traditional political structures is on the cards in many parts of the world as technology brings challenges to slow and bureaucratic decision-making. New forms of more agile democratic structures are likely to emerge.

• [New] Excluding political advertising in the U.S., GroupM anticipates total television advertising to decline by 17.6% in 2020 before rebounding slightly next year.
• [New] Political tensions are expected to rise ahead of presidential and legislative elections in Iran, Israel, Jordan and Kuwait in 2020.
• [New] Looking at larger markets, GroupM expects a 0.9% decline in the US, including political advertising, and growth of 9.2% for China next year.
• [New] Sudan is at risk of relapsing back into political instability and potential conflict, only a year after long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir was removed from power.
• [New] While all media channels will benefit from the predicted increased political spending, digital media will grow the most and hit $1 billion in political ad revenue for the first time this year.
• [New] The year 2019 will be remembered for several significant developments in East Asia's political economy, particularly the prolonged trade war between the US and China and mass and violent protests in Hong Kong.
• [New] Excluding political advertising, growth is predicted to be mostly flat in 2019 at -0.2%, with a decline of -2.3% in nonpolitical television advertising for 2020.
• [New] Amid ongoing political tensions and economic travails - the ruling Justice and Development Party, led by the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will remain in power until mid-2023, and probably beyond.
• [New] With risks such as a global trade war and political uncertainty being present in the Middle East and Europe, investor sentiment could decline significantly in 2020.
• [New] Political ad spending in the U.S. will surge 57% to $9.9 billion next year from $6.3 billion in 2016 amid growth in fundraising and digital advertising.
• [New] The US TV industry expects a return to more healthy levels in the second half of the year, thanks to hoped - for political ad spending.
• [New] The loss of oil rents in countries with weak governance could lead to fractures in society and political instability.
• [New] A stronger case could be made that Lebanon's political class is far more worried by what the consequences of coronavirus are for its lock on the political and economic system than it is reassured by the resulting containment measures on a disgruntled population.
• [New] Since there is a significant time lag for potential gains of the trade war to take shape according to mainstream political-economic observers, President Trump might have to face a hard time in the 2020 general election because the economic statistics will not likely be on his side.
• [New] Political advertising is still expected to provide a substantial boost, and live sports could return in force in H2 2020, with some sports leagues endeavoring to pick up where they left off rather than abandon their seasons entirely.
• [New] The UK must assume that Russia will change neither its domestic political order nor its foreign policies in the coming years.
• The government has decided that Muslims from India will not travel to Saudi Arabia for Haj 2020 after the kingdom conveyed that pilgrims should not be sent this year in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
• The German government hopes its more than 130 billion euro ($147 billion) stimulus package will help bring the economy back onto a growth path later this year.
• Just as the UK will miss by some £8bn the old target of £30bn in education exports by 2020, the new target will remain out of reach in the absence of a broader package of policy measures backed by all Government departments.
• The UK government is examining legislation to increase scrutiny on foreign takeovers amid growing concern that Chinese firms will use the coronavirus (COVID-19) to acquire strategically important UK companies.
• GroupM released its mid-year forecast, projecting a 13% decline in U.S. advertising this year, followed by a 4% growth next year, excluding political advertising.
• The Government of India has announced Digital India program in which all the multiple sectors will be linked using internet to make data available & improve efficiency.

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Last updated: 08 July 2020