National TV Prices Firm Up In September: Cable Gains, Broadcast Erodes

The national TV advertising marketplace firmed up in September, following a historic cyclical pattern of increasing demand heading into the fourth quarter of the year.


The average price of national TV advertising time rose 10 points to an index of 128 in September -- up from an index of 112 in August, according to the latest installment of the Real Cost Index, a collaboration of MediaPost and SQAD that benchmarked national TV advertising costs at an index of 100 in January 2009.

On a year-over-year basis, national TV ad prices have also tightened, rising four points from September 2015’s 124 index.

Most of that price expansion came from cable TV, while the broadcast networks lost ground.

The national broadcast TV index fell 17 points to an index of 154 in September from an index of 171 in September 2015.

National cable TV’s index, meanwhile, rose nine points to a 144 in September from a 135 in September 2015.

advertisement

advertisement

Next story loading loading..