US TV ad market remains flat

US TV ad market remains flat
Michelle Clancy
| 31 July 2018

Despite claims of a booming economy, the US advertising industry has witnessed a small 0.35% year-over-year contraction in growth in the first half of the year, across broadcast, digital broadcast and radio platforms.
matrix 31July2018
According to Matrix Solutions’ 2018 Midyear Ad Spend Report, an emergence of political advertising spend in primary Democrat and Republican elections leading to the midterm elections, which has seen a 264% growth rate, was largely the driver in the first half of 2018. When excluding political ad spend from the findings, broadcast, digital broadcast and radio witnessed an overall 4.90% contraction compared to last year at the same time.

When excluding political ad spend, local continues to be down at a 3.25% contraction rate, with national at a contraction rate of 0.77%, demonstrating flat growth at a national level without a political factor.

When excluding political ad spend, overall media ad sales in broadcast experienced a contraction rate of 5.86%. Digital broadcast on the other hand is booming—media ad sales grew across nearly every category at an average rate of 13.21% when including political ad spend, and at 13.03% when excluding political.

When looking at ad spend figures from specific industries, the following categories were key areas of growth across broadcast, digital broadcast and radio: Services (6.62% growth); financial services (5.16% growth); and home improvement (0.54% growth).

“According to our data, overall ad spend throughout the year, to date, has remained relatively flat when including the buoyancy that always comes from political campaigns, and without there’s a clear contraction,” said Mark Gorman, CEO at Matrix Solutions. “It’s a trend that’s continued from the findings of our 2017 Ad Spend Report, which means for these traditional platforms, they need to better arm themselves to grab a larger slice of the overall advertising spend pie to remain competitive.”

He added, “The advertising industry is in constant flux, and understanding these trends can help media ad sales teams better anticipate how brands are investing in traditional media platforms to inform their own strategies and priorities.”