print Normalized Growth Remains Steady At 2.5 To 3.0 Percent
New York, NY, December 16, 2013 – Total advertising expenditures in the third quarter of 2013 declined 1.9 percent from a year ago and finished the period at $34.0 billion, according to data released today by Kantar Media, the leading provider of strategic advertising and marketing information. For the year-to-date period of January through September, total spending increased 0.7 percent to $102.5 billion.
“Comparisons against Q3 of 2012 are skewed by last year’s record-breaking Summer Olympic and political campaign ad spending, which artificially boosted the market,” said Jon Swallen, Chief Research Officer at Kantar Media North America. ““Remove that incremental money from the year-ago base and spending in Q3 2013 was up 2.5 to 3.0 percent. This is more indicative of how the ad market is currently performing.”
Measured Ad Spending By Media
Without the benefit of an Olympics event, Network TV expenditures in the third quarter fell 17.9 percent compared to a year ago. Spot TV dropped 15.0 percent, primarily due to the reduction in political category spending that occurs in odd-numbered years. Other television segments had healthy gains in Q3. Spanish Language TV ad expenditures rose 9.9 percent, principally from more hours of soccer programming on Hispanic networks. Spending on Cable TV networks was up 5.1 percent and continues to be lifted by a creeping expansion of ad time.
Spending for Internet display advertising, which does not include video or mobile ad formats, grew 14.5 percent in the quarter on broad gains from the financial service, telecom and technology categories. Outdoor advertising expenditures rose 5.5 percent, the sixteenth consecutive quarter of year-over-year increases. The medium is benefitting from digital signage, which allows multiple advertisers to share a single space and enables operators to command higher prices.
Magazine media had mixed results in third quarter, depending on the segment. On the positive side, Consumer Magazine expenditures increased 5.5 percent on higher activity from consumer package goods and apparel marketers. Ad pages grew a scant 0.3 percent. On the down side, spending in Sunday Magazines declined 4.0 percent but this is explained by a calendar quirk: there were thirteen Sundays in Q3 2013 as compared to fourteen the prior year. Meanwhile, B-to-B Magazines (-0.7 percent) and Local Magazines (-0.1 percent) each fell by a small amount.
Radio media also experienced mixed results for the quarter. Local Radio, despite the headwinds from lower political ad spending, eked out only a 0.4 percent gain in total expenditures. Spending on National Spot Radio fell 8.5 percent on cutbacks by restaurant, retail and financial service advertisers. Network Radio expenditures plunged 23.7 percent but the decline was exaggerated by a reduction in radio programming tracked by Kantar Media.
The persistent and steady contraction of Newspaper media continued in Q3 of 2013. Expenditures in Local Newspapers dropped 3.2 percent and National Newspapers were down 6.4 percent on commensurate declines in the volume of ad space sold, indicating weak demand. For both segments the spending reductions were led by the automotive, retail and financial service categories.
Thirteen of the top fifteen advertisers in the category reduced their spending, further evidence of the widespread slowdown.
About Kantar Media
Kantar Media provides critical information that helps our clients make better decisions about communications. We enable the world’s leading brands, publishers, agencies and industry bodies to navigate and succeed in a rapidly evolving media industry. Our services include analysis of paid media opportunities; counsel on brand reputation, corporate management and consumer engagement through owned media; and evaluating consumers’ reactions in earned media. As the global house of expertise in media and marketing information, Kantar Media provides clients with a broad range of insights, from audience research, competitive intelligence, vital consumer behaviour and digital insights, to marketing effectiveness and social media monitoring. Our experts currently work with 22,000 companies tracking 4 million brands in 50 countries.
For further information, please visit us at www.KantarMediaNA.com