U.S. TV Ad Spending Dips in Q2

NEW YORK: The absence of ad dollars from last year's World Cup impacted major U.S. networks on a year-on-year basis, with TV ad revenues down 6 percent in Q2 compared to the same period in 2014, according to Standard Media Index (SMI) data.

The global advertising data company estimates that the 2014 FIFA World Cup generated more than $500 million in television ad revenues in June and July last year. While TV revenues dropped 6 percent, the digital sector notched up 14 percent growth in June.

“June’s overall numbers were negatively impacted on a year-on-year basis by last year’s World Cup,” said James Fennessy, SMI’s chief commercial officer. “However, there are some underling factors that are contributing to a deeper malaise. Soft ratings and ongoing measurement issues continue to impact television’s results and we also saw a slight slowdown in the explosive growth from digital, which points to marketers focusing more closely on return on investment.”

TV dollars were down 5 percent year-on-year for the second quarter, in line with falls in across the board C3 ratings, implying that this year’s TV offerings have not been able to replace the large advertising expenditure that was committed to last year’s World Cup. For June, television ad spend was down 16 percent for broadcast, while cable TV dropped 1 percent.

Reporting on 80 percent of the total national ad spend from global agencies, SMI data showed that broadcast ad spend declined by 10 percent and cable dipped 3 percent year-on-year for the second quarter. In looking at the top four broadcast TV networks, ad revenues dropped by a combined 9 percent in June. However, advertising on social media sites and video sites, such as YouTube and Hulu, continue to grow consistently at 37 percent and 43 percent, respectively.