Ouch: TV takes quite a hit in June

 

Media economy

 

Broadcast tumbles 16 percent. Blame the lack of World Cup.

By Bill Cromwell

July 21, 2015

   

The slowdown in TV advertising that began early this year is showing no signs of abating.

In fact, it appears to be getting worse.

Dr. Philip LeNoble of Executive Decision Systems, Inc. of  Littleton, CO says local-direct revenue is not touched and should lead the way into fourth quarter.

Broadcast ad spending fell by 16 percent during June compared to last year at the same time, closing out a second quarter in which revenue was off 10 percent.
That’s according to a new report from Standard Media Index, which tracks ad spending on the part of 80 percent of U.S. agencies.

Part of June’s big slowdown came from tough comparisons to last year, when the World Cup aired on Univision and ABC.

Univision was hit particularly hard last month, notes James Fennessy, chief commercial officer at SMI, with ad spending plummeting more than 50 percent from last year.

But part of that decline also reflects advertiser uncertainty about TV generally and broadcast in particular.

One major issue is the movement away from watching TV shows on television and toward viewing them on second screens, such as smartphones and tablets, which are not included in the Nielsen measurements buyers use to purchase ad time.

“Current measurement systems are not doing an effective job of measuring audiences who are consuming programs on mobile devices or watching outside traditional ratings times,” Fennessy tells Media Life.

“These issues have been around for some time but are gaining increased scrutiny with the acceleration of audiences consuming on digital devices, as well as the significant percentage of programming being viewed well after it has first aired.”
Even without Univision, which had by far the biggest bump from the World Cup, the Big Four networks were still off 9 percent in ad spending in June.

“Everyone knows that broadcast ratings are soft right now, and ad dollars follow these ratings results pretty closely,” Fennessy says.

In addition to TV, radio, magazines and newspapers also saw year-to-year drops in June.
But not every traditional media suffered.

Out of home surged 16 percent last month, recording its best month this year. With the warmer weather, advertisers are eager to reach people outside through billboards and other outdoor media.
Digital continued to soar, up 14 percent in June.

That included a big 43 percent jump for digital video, including Hulu and YouTube, underscoring advertisers’ interest in this medium as TV ratings slide.