Digital Catching Up to TV for Advertising

CHICAGO: A new STRATA quarterly survey has revealed that while local TV remains the medium of choice for advertising (35 percent), digital is behind it by just a 1-percent margin.

Advertising showed its resiliency in the third quarter, with 52 percent of respondents noting that their business is increasing compared to the same quarter last year. Only 16.5 percent saw a decrease in business, which is down 30 percent from a year ago.

Spot TV was cited by 35 percent of respondents as their top advertising avenue, though digital followed very closely behind with 34 percent, which is up 43 percent since last quarter. In fact, 85 percent said clients are focusing on digital more than last year. Local cable also noticed a bump, as 31 percent said they are more focused on it than they were last year (up 13 percent from the year ago). Network TV noticed a gain as well, with 12 percent saying they are more focused on it than there were a year ago; the figures are up 86 percent since Q3 2010.

Of respondents, 20 percent said they anticipate having a greater spend on digital than traditional within the next one to three years; 36 percent said they will never have a greater spend on digital than traditional.

"If one looks for another sign of a nominally growing economy, one should look to the advertising industry right now," said John Shelton, the CEO and president of STRATA. "Attracting new business is still a challenge for agencies, but, and it’s a key point to emphasize, client retention is stabilizing, and market volatility is not immediately effecting long-term goals and campaigns. As we’ve seen throughout the year, the STRATA survey is a good indicator of advertising growth and definitely highlighted third quarter challenges such as client attraction. But with the holidays right around the corner, it will be interesting to see if the industry can leverage short-term boosts to create long-term optimism."