• by Wayne Friedman , March 13, 2006

In its typical two-year yo-yoing advertising performance, local broadcast TV's advertising revenues slipped nearly 9 percent in 2005 versus the year before, to $16.7 billion. With 2005 being a non-political advertising year and a non-Olympic year, the Television Bureau of Advertising data provided by TNS Media Intelligence/CMR came in as expected.

By way of comparison, local broadcast revenues in 2004--which was an Olympic and big political advertising year--were 12 percent higher than in 2003.

In 2005, revenues were down in seven of the top ten categories for the year. The biggest and perhaps most watched national spot advertising group--automotive--declined at the same level as the entire local broadcast TV business--9 percent. This confirms the automotive industry's ongoing sales problem. Other categories were down even more: Telecommunications' business toppled 18.6 percent; financial services were off 11.2 percent; and food products slowed 18.4 percent.

But all wasn't lost for broadcast TV.

Network advertising inched up 0.7 percent to $25 billion, and national syndication advertising dollars witnessed a 7.4 percent hike for the year to $4.2 billion. Fourth-quarter 2005 advertising business was even better--up 6.0 percent for networks and 10.9 percent higher for syndication.

All of broadcast TV witnessed a 2.4 percent decline for 2005 to $46.0 billion. Fourth-quarter losses were more modest--a 0.5 percent slippage to $12.8 billion. Local broadcast revenues in the final quarter declined by 10.9 percent to $4.7 billion.

The Television Bureau of Advertising said the category of governmental and political organizations witnessed a decline of 54.0 percent in media dollars--a reflection of fewer big political campaigns, and comparisons to the presidential election in 2004.

The biggest national spot advertiser, DaimlerChrysler, was down 12.7 percent. Other automakers--big spot advertisers in their own right--fell to similar levels and more. General Motors was steeply off 23.2 percent; Ford Motor was down 15.1 percent; Toyota Motor Co. sank 23.9 percent; Nissan Motor declined 20 percent. Honda was down the least--only 11.8 percent.

On the plus side, insurance and real estate companies posted a 19.6 percent gain.