U.S advertising tallied strong double-digit gains for television platforms for the first quarter of 2010 -- but still, troubling times remain for magazines and newspapers.
Kantar Media
says key TV indicators posted strong gains in the first three months of this year -- with all television ad revenues up 10.5%. The strongest here -- spot TV -- was 22% improved. Network TV was 11.6%
higher, while cable TV posted a 8.2% gain. Only national syndication took a hit: off 13.2%.
Total advertising expenditures in the first quarter of 2010 rose 5.1% from a year ago and finished the
period at $31.3 billion.
While spot TV sellers had reason to rejoice, these gains should be viewed in comparison to the steep 20% declines of a year ago -- much more than all other media on
average.
Magazines dropped 3.2% for the first quarter of 2010. By way of comparision, these losses are not as bad as the big double-digit declines of a year ago. The Sunday magazine supplement
was the lone magazine segment that showed an uptick -- at 13.7%.
advertisement
advertisement
Newspapers went much the same direction as magazines -- down 3.7% for the period. National newspapers did see a hike over the same
period in 2009 -- with a healthy 9.1% rise.
Other media claimed good results. Internet display advertising was up 5% for the period, and radio had an even better 7.4% increase. Outdoor
advertising was virtually flat, with a 0.4% slip.
Among individual advertisers, Kantar Media said Procter & Gamble remained as the largest advertiser for the U.S., with $772.6 million in ad
spending; it had an increase of 17.7% versus a year ago. Kantar says the company continues to shift budgets toward magazines and away from television.
AT&T grew 26.7% to $576.4 million, while
General Motors ad spending improved by almost one-third, at 28.5% to $533.7 million.
Automotive, still the leading ad category, had the highest growth rate, boosting nearly 19% overall during the
period to $3.02 billion, which Kantar said ended a streak of 18 consecutive quarterly declines.
Another category that reversed itself after many periods of decline was financial services --
which rose 10.1% to 42.03 billion. Telecommunications companies also grew 10.6% overall to $2.28 billion.
Top 10 Advertisers Of 1Q 20101 |
|
Rank | | Company | | Jan - Mar 2010
($Millions) | | Jan - Mar 2009
($Millions) | | % Change |
1
| | Procter & Gamble Co |
| $772.6 | | $656.5 | | 17.7% |
2 | | AT&T Inc | | $576.4 | | $455.0 | | 26.7% |
3 | | General Motors Corp |
| $533.7 | | $415.5 | | 28.5% |
4 | | Verizon Communications Inc |
| $517.2 | | $569.1 | | -9.1% |
5 | | Pfizer Inc | | $396.4 | | $271.1 | | 46.2% |
6 | | News Corp | | $366.8 | | $340.4 | | 7.8% |
7 | | Johnson & Johnson | | $344.1 | | $390.3 | | -11.8% |
8 | | Time Warner Inc | | $304.3 | | $265.3 | | 14.7% |
9 | | Walt Disney Co | | $267.6 | | $303.6 | | -11.8% |
10 | | General Electric Co |
| $264.6 | | $261.3 | | 1.3%
|
| | TOTAL2 | | $4,343.9 |
| $3,928.0 | | 10.6% |
Source: Kantar Media |
1. | Figures do not include FSI, House Ads or PSA activity. |
2. | The sum of the individual
companies may differ from the Total shown due to rounding. |
Top 10 Advertising Categories Of 1Q
20101 |
|
Rank | | Category |
| Jan - Mar 2010
($Millions) | | Jan - Mar 2009
($Millions) | | %
Change |
1 | | Automotive | | $3,016.8 | | $2,544.6 | | 18.6% |
| | -- (Manufacturers) | | $1,962.1 | | $1,634.6 | | 20.0% |
| | -- (Dealers) | | $1,054.7 | | $910.0 | | 15.9% |
2 | | Telecom | | $2,276.5 | | $2,059.0 | | 10.6% |
3 | | Financial Services | | $2,028.7 | | $1,841.9 | | 10.1% |
4 | | Local Services | | $1,895.0 | | $1,819.5 | | 4.1% |
5 | | Miscellaneous Retail2 |
| $1,668.4 | | $1,532.2 | | 8.9% |
6 | | Food & Candy | | $1,600.0 | | $1,490.6 | | 7.3% |
7 | | Direct Response | | $1,569.3 | | $1,621.5 | | -3.2% |
8 | | Restaurants | | $1,454.5 | | $1,411.0 | | 3.1% |
9 | | Personal Care Products |
| $1,311.5 | | $1,242.6 | | 5.5% |
10 | | Pharmaceuticals | | $1,154.2 | | $1,113.7 | | 3.6%
|
| | TOTAL3 | | $17,974.8 | | $16,676.7 |
| 7.8% |
Source: Kantar Media |
1. | Figures do not include FSI or PSA activity. |
2. | Miscellaneous Retail does not include these retail segments: Department
Stores, Home Furnishing/Building Supply Stores. |
3. | The sum of the individual
categories may differ from the total due to rounding. |