U.S. Adspend Up 3.2 Percent in First Half of 2011

NEW YORK: Total U.S. advertising expenditures in the first six months of 2011 increased 3.2 percent from the year-ago figures, reaching $71.5 billion, according to new data from Kantar Media, with TV adspend up 1.8 percent.

Spending growth in the second quarter was up 2.8 percent compared to Q2 2010. Adspend on television media grew 1.8 percent. Within the TV sector, spending on cable networks was up 11.8 percent during the first half, though network TV spending dropped 7.6 percent. The shift of BCS college football bowl games and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament programming from broadcast to cable is one factor shaping these results. There was a reallocation of TV budgets from network to cable within the prescription drug, financial service and consumer package goods categories. Syndication TV spending grew 18.5 percent. Spanish-language TV had a 1.7-percent increase in the first half. Spot TV fell by 0.9 percent.

Internet media accounted for more than half of the dollar gain in total ad spend during the first half of the year. Display spending was up 12.9 percent and search investments grew 8.6 percent. Outdoor advertising spend was up 11.8 percent.