Stations Outpace Papers In '09 Web Sales

By Staff
TVNewsCheck, Apr 20 2010, 10:40 AM ET

Web sales growth at TV stations outpaced newspapers in 2009 as broadcasters gained ground against their principal in-market competitors and posted an 8.7% share of all local online advertising, according to a Borrell Associates report sponsored by the Television Bureau of Advertising.

Total online ad revenue for stations hit $1.1 billion last year, a 10% increase over the previous year, and the report forecast that revenues would grow another 21% in 2010.
"In a year where the [Interactive Advertising Bureau] reported flat Internet revenues, the performance of local TV stations is quite stunning," said Jack Poor, VP of strategic planning at TVB.

At a TVB press this morning announcing the study, Benchmarking: TV Web Sites Defy Gravity, Borrell Associates CEO Gordon Borrell, CEO attributed the stations' healthy growth to their putting more resources into their interactive efforts. Most of those resources went into the technology underlying the websites and their ad servers and in the hiring and training of dedicated sales people, he said.

The content of the stations' websites showed some slight improvement, he said. However, on the whole, he added, "the sites remain a little more shallow than what you'd find on newspaper sites."

The study examines revenue sources, growth rates, site traffic and other interactive issues and offers benchmarking for stations in large, medium and small markets. The Borrell research tracks interactive advertising for more than 4,400 local websites in the U.S. and Canada through voluntary submission of data.

Borrell also noted that the local online advertising is 15 years old and maturing. He said: "But we're seeing the emergence of a new disrupter: mobile."

According to the report, local mobile advertising surpassed $200 million last year, with TV broadcasters capturing about 12% of the total. "I expect that figure to skyrocket into the billions within two years as the transition from desktops and laptops to hand-held devices takes off," Borrell added.

The top local ad-spending categories, according to the report, continue to be major retailers, car dealers and real estate agents — reflecting the efforts of merchandisers to meet up with consumers who are researching major purchases online.

Local and state governments were also big spenders in 2009 as they bought Internet advertising to educate residents and taxpayers and placed job postings to recruit employees. Health care is another large category, comprising hospitals, outpatient clinics, physicians, and "other" health professionals such as LASIK surgeons, dentists, chiropractors and cosmetic surgeons.

A surge in the use of coupons last year — and an even stronger surge in online couponing — drove other categories such as food stores, pharmacies and restaurants. Sites such as Coupons.com, Groupon, Coolsavings.com, Zip2Save.com, ShopLocal.com and others took hold with consumers.

TV stations' efforts in this area extended mainly to selling half-price gift certificates, typically for restaurants, as well as some experiments in mobile couponing.


This is the fifth year Borrell has conducted the benchmarking report for TVB. This year's report focuses on data submitted by 573 TV stations.