• by Wayne Friedman , August 30, 2018

Digital video streaming services continue to boost national TV advertising spending -- 16% higher this summer than a year ago.

Just over $115 million was spent from May through August 29, according to iSpot.tv. National TV ad spending was $99.5 million for the same period a year ago.

This year, AT&T’s DirecTV Now -- a virtual digital pay TV provider -- spent $25.8 million over this period.  Subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) provider Hulu was next at $20.2 million. Dish's Sling TV was at $18.3 million, while Amazon Prime Video came in at $17.1 million.

Netflix, the overwhelming SVOD leader in terms of revenue and subscribers, spent $10.6 million. YouTube TV, its virtual pay TV service, spent $7.1 million.

Much of this national TV marketing went into big broadcast and cable networks, with ABC at $11.1 million; TNT at $10.7 million; NBC at $9.1 million; Fox at $8.7 million; and NBC Sports at $6.9 million. ABC and TNT aired big NBA post-season games; Fox had the “2018 FIFA World Cup.”

Over the same time period in 2017, Hulu spent $24.3 million, while DirecTV came in at $21.8 million; Sling TV was at $11.5 million; PlayStation Vue had $9.9 million; Amazon Prime Video came in at $9.6 million; and Netflix had $5.7 million.