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Media Life

Ad Spending Takes a Dip

Jun 29, 2015  •  Post A Comment

Ad spending was down in the first quarter of 2015, with the comparison to first-quarter 2014 being a tough one due to the Sochi Olympics.

Citing data from Kantar Media, Media Life reports that total first-quarter ad spending was down 4%

“Even removing the Olympics from the comparisons, ad spending was still down year to year, reflecting continued advertiser uncertainty about the economy and the move from more expensive traditional media to cheaper new media options,” Media Life notes.

Said Jon Swallen, chief research officer at Kantar Media North America: “Excluding the impact of special events, core ad spending measured by Kantar Media was down about 2 percent in the period. Even after taking into account assumptions about the growth of spend on other unmonitored media, it has been a relatively slow start for the ad market in 2015.”

Swallen noted that the Sochi Games generated $600 million in incremental spend in 2014.

In first-quarter 2015, ad spending on broadcast was off sharply, down 9.2%, due entirely to the Winter Olympics. Spending was flat when Sochi was taken out of the calculation.

“Cable and Spanish-language television were the only TV categories to see gains,” Media Life reports. “Cable rose 4.1 percent, driven by a 3.8 percent increase in commercial time the networks made available to advertisers.”

Spanish-language TV was up 4.8%.

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