Ad Spend Forecast Glum: Trad Media Down, Cable, Digital Up

MediaDailyNews Monday, Jun 17, 2013 by Steve McClellan Growth prospects for U.S. ad spending this year haven’t been all that bright, with most forecasters predicting increases in the low single-digit range on a percentage basis. Now, according to Pivotal Research, there won’t be any growth at all. According to a newly issued Pivotal report ad revenues will decline in the U.S. by 0.5% to $176.25 billion. Earlier, the company had pegged growth this year at 1.2%. Advertisers will continue to shift dollars away from local media. Pivotal predicts revenues in that sector will decline 1.6% to $61.5 billion. Newspapers will experience another sharp decline per the Pivotal report, issued today by senior research analyst Brian Wieser. Local newspaper revenue will fall by more than $1.6 billion or 9% to $16.57 billion. Local radio revenue will also take a hit with Pivotal forecasting a 1.6% drop this year to $13.9 billion. In national media, English-language broadcast network TV is a laggard this year with revenues expected to decline nearly 2% to $13.36 billion, per the Pivotal forecast. Cable will be up 5% to $24 billion and Spanish-language will be up more than 7% to $1.35 billion. Digital revenue growth will continue to be robust this year, particularly in the national segment according to the report. National digital dollars are expected to climb nearly 15% to $12.9 billion. Local digital revenue will be up 7% to $4.8 billion. Dr.Philip Jay LeNoble, CEO Executive Decision Systems, Inc. of Littleton, Co reports solid growth seen when managers affirm commitment to local-direct business and training traditional, transacional sellers to learn more than negotiating Cost Per Point.