U.S. ad spending fell 3.1% in August, marking the
second consecutive monthly year-over-year decline, according to just updated data from Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Index.
Both July (-4.8%) compare with days of Olympics coverage on
NBCUniversal, which typically includes incremental ad spending.
While discrete data for NBCU is not available via the market index, national TV ad spending fell 20.2% in August, and 25.0% in
July compared with the same months in 2024, though the medium likely also benefitted from a surge presidential election year political ad spending.
While August's and July's declines reflect
tough year-over-year comparisons, ad spending growth has been decelerating in the months leading up to them.
"U.S. ad spending -- excluding the Olympics -- grew 2% year-over-year in July
through August, while total spending [for the two months] including the Games declined 4%," explains Guideline Analyst-Advertising Insights Momo Jin.
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