Another ’sign’… of TV decline, and the US ad spending report

Last night Jay Leno’s show guest, trying to be funny, said: “You know Jay, this is between you and me, I don’t want anyone else to know this.” Jay Leno replied: “Don’t worry, this is NBC, nobody’s watching!”

Jokes aside, Advertising Age reports today that ‘U.S. ad spending in the first half of this year slipped to $72.59 billion, a 0.3% decline from the first half of 2006, as the second quarter repeated the falloff of the first.’ The lion’s share of the ad spend is still network TV, but the ratio is slowly changing.

This drop is happening while ‘media sellers’ costs are rising fast. Even more unsettling, this is the first time since 2001 that media ad spending has fallen for two quarters in a row, according to TNS Media Intelligence, which produced today’s numbers. ‘

It is quite noteworthy that amidst the general slump, everything ‘targeted’ is on the rise: cable TV, consumer magazines, ethnic media (Spanish magazines), as well as the Internet and Outdoor. The Internet numbers would have been much higher if they had included the paid search.

Also important, I think, is the fact that the downturn in ad spending happened while the economy had been strong, which might be an indicator that advertisers are simply reluctant to keep throwing huge sums into the ‘black hole’ of network TV, with its shrinking audiences and low accountability. I heard from ad execs and analysts that there is money there, put aside, waiting for the digital signage ad space (and other new media) to be standardized for easier buying, and measured for ad ROI. 

Great stats by TNS Media Intelligence!

2 comments September 11th, 2007