U.S. TV Adspend Up 7.6 Percent

NEW YORK: Advertising expenditures in the U.S. increased across all TV media types in the first quarter of 2012, according to figures from Kantar Media.

Total advertising spending in Q1 2012 increased 2.6 percent from the year ago, finishing the period at $32.9 billion. Television adspend was up 7.6 percent compared to the 2011 figures. Gains were seen across all TV media types as well. Cable TV was up 7.4 percent and network TV was up 7 percent. More than two-thirds of this dollar volume came from sporting events, Kantar says, led by the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and NFL post-season games.

Syndication TV budgets were up 15.7 percent and were helped by more hours of programming as well as audience ratings gains. Spot TV saw spending that was up 2.5 percent versus a year ago, benefiting from a biennial business cycle tied to political advertising and Olympics.

Spanish-language TV spending was up 20.7 percent, with higher automotive spending and larger allocation from a range of consumer packaged-goods marketers.

“After a sluggish start in January, the pace of measured ad spending quickly accelerated and grew at an average rate of more than 4 percent during February and March, the best performance in more than a year,” said Jon Swallen, the chief research officer at Kantar Media North America. “Early figures from the second quarter indicate continued modest growth with improvement trickling down to media that have been lagging the overall advertising market.”