• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 11, 2016

National TV ad prices followed a seasonal downward adjustment in December, the last month of the fourth-quarter holiday shopping season. Prices fell 17 points to an index of 127 in December from a 144 in November, which proved to be the peak demand month for national television in 2015, according to final year-end results of the RealCost Index, a collaboration of MediaPost and SQAD.

On a year-over-year basis, demand for national time increased, with the average price of a national TV ad rising 15 points over December 2014’s index of 127.

Most of the decline was attributable to national broadcast networks, whose combined index value hit declined from a 181 in November to a 135 in December, networks’ lowest December since 2010.

Cable networks retained more of their pricing value, declining from an index of 155 in November to a 148 in December, which was up nine points from December 2014.