• by Wayne Friedman , December 15, 2006

Local broadcast stations grew a healthy 10.4% in ad revenues in the third quarter, but this didn't spill over to other parts of the broadcast business.

Network television was down slightly at 0.6%, and syndicated TV was off 1.4% in the third quarter versus the same time period in 2005, according to the Television Bureau of Advertising, based on data from TNS Media Intelligence/CMR. Combining all over-the-air TV, the advertising business on broadcast had a net increase of 3.8%.

Much has been made of the strong political ad season that sent some $2 billion in local media and marketing money into the midterm elections and various issues campaigns. But the Television Bureau of Advertising says other categories showed good business gains, too.

Virtually all of the top 10 ad categories witnessed improvements.

The biggest category--automotive, which saw some weak periods for stations earlier in the year--rebounded, with an increase of 9.7%. Fast food grew 6.1%. Telecommunications businesses scored the biggest increase: 30.2%. Other categories, such as local car and truck dealers, financial services and furniture retail, improved as well.

The largest single advertising gainer was AT&T, at nearly 135%. Automotive companies were led by General Motors Corp Dealers Association, 14.7% higher; Ford Motor Co. Dealers Association, a 12.3% gain; DaimlerChrysler, up 8.3%; and Honda Motor Co, 7.6% more. Losing ground was General Motors Corp, at 8.0%, Toyota Motor Corp Dealers Association, down 7.5%; Ford Motor, off 5.7%, and Nissan Motor Co., 3.2% less.