U.S. ad spending sank nearly 4% in the third quarter with outdoor, Spanish-language TV, radio and paid search showing growth -- to $36 billion.
Kantar Media says the quarter witnessed a 3.7% fall, with 16 of 22 different media types declining. The nine-month period -- January through September -- was down 4% versus the same time
period a year ago.
Results do not include mobile and online video advertising, the media research company says.
TV ad spending was down 3% -- with broadcast network TV faring the best of
all TV platforms, down 1% for the quarter versus the same period the year before. Kantar says this was due to one less weekend of NFL games. Without this, broadcast network TV would have been 3% to 4%
higher.
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Spot TV sank 5% due to unfavorable comparisons to year-ago spending, which witnessed high political spending. National cable TV lost 4.2% from spending cuts by consumer package-goods
advertisers, a segment that accounts for about one-fifth of cable ad dollars.
Paid search climbed 3.7% from big gains in travel, media and auto dealer spending. Online display declined 12.2%,
with financial service, telecommunications and insurance spending sharply lower.
This result “may be a reflection of audiences moving to mobile platforms,” says Kantar Media.
Radio spending was up 5.1%, with local radio nearly 13% higher, coming from higher spending of auto dealers, restaurants and telecommunications companies.
Outdoor advertising climbed 4%
with cinema advertising down 16%. Magazines sank 7.1% and newspapers lost nearly 12%
Overall, ad spending for the ten largest categories declined 3.4% in the third quarter of 2015 to $19.4
billion.