Positive Trend: Local Broadcast Ads Rise 30%

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Local television advertising continues to climb -- now up over 30% for the third quarter over the same period a year ago.

The TVB, the TV marketing group, says a booming automotive category -- up 74.1% over a year ago and big political advertising -- help lead the charge for stations, pulling in some $4.1 billion during the period, per data from Kantar Media.

Overall, broadcast television improved 12.5% during the period to $9.9 billion. Network television added 2.7% to its total of a year ago to $4.8 billion, but syndicated television slipped 1.2% to $1.01 billion. TVB didn't give an explanation here; however, some analysts note that many TV platforms are still suffering a bit from low 2009 upfront pricing deals.

These third-quarter numbers are somewhat comparable to trends notable early in the year.

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For the first nine months of 2010, local broadcast TV was up 27.0% to $11.0 billion; network TV was 6.6% higher to $18.2 billion, and syndicated TV was down 8.3% to $2.9 billion. Total broadcast TV was up 11.0% in the nine-month period to $32.1 billion.

In addition to auto manufacturers, many other ad categories grew during the period: communications/telecommunications, 30.2% higher; restaurants, up 11.2%; political advertising, a major 688% hike; financial services, a 69.6% improvement; and car and truck dealers, a 25.4% gain.

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