At the close of the second fiscal quarter in the US and in the ramp up to the 2018 Midterm Elections, a report from Matrix Solutions shows that the US saw a .35 per cent year-over-year contraction across broadcast, digital broadcast and radio platforms – demonstrating flat growth.

This figure comes despite the emergence of political advertising spend in primary Democrat and Republican elections, which has seen a 264 per cent growth rate. When excluding political ad spend from the findings, broadcast, digital broadcast and radio witnessed an overall 4.9 per cent contraction compared to last year at the same time.

“According to our data, overall ad spend throughout the year, to date, has remained relatively flat when including the buoyancy that always comes from political campaigns, and without there’s a clear contraction. It’s a trend that’s continued from the findings of our 2017 Ad Spend Report, which means for these traditional platforms, they need to better arm themselves to grab a larger slice of the overall advertising spend pie to remain competitive,” said Mark Gorman, CEO at Matrix Solutions. “The advertising industry is in constant flux, and understanding these trends can help media ad sales teams better anticipate how brands are investing in traditional media platforms to inform their own strategies and priorities.”

Advertising Spend by Platform

Broadcast

• When excluding political ad spend, overall media ad sales in broadcast experienced a contraction rate of 5.86 per cent and remains mostly flat with a slight contraction rate of .83 per cent when including political ad spend
• Key industries of growth in broadcast include Services (4.98 per cent), Travel & Leisure (2.56 per cent) and Financial Services (2.26 per cent)
• Notable areas of decline in broadcast include Grocery & Food Items (21.54 per cent contraction rate), Restaurants (19.68 per cent contraction rate), Automotive & Auto-related (12.51 per cent contraction rate) and Health & Beauty (11.77 per cent contraction rate)

Digital Broadcast

• Digital Broadcast is booming – media ad sales grew across nearly every category at an average rate of 13.21 per cent when including political ad spend, and at 13.03 per cent when excluding political
• Key industries of growth include Financial Services (23.09 per cent), Services (20.71 per cent), Home Improvement (16.03 per cent), Entertainment (24.01 per cent) and Medical (10.46 per cent)
• Notable areas in decline include Trade Organizations (19.10 per cent contraction rate) and Automotive & Auto-related (2.12 per cent contraction rate)

Radio

• Radio’s growth is flat in comparison to last year, with a slight contraction of .38 per cent when excluding political ad spend. When factoring political, that figure slightly jumps but growth remains flat at .06 per cent.
• Key industries of growth include Services (21.05 per cent), Retail (19.31 per cent) and Financial Services (17.49 per cent)
• Most significant declines are in Travel & Leisure (37.27 per cent contraction rate), Health & Beauty (31.64 per cent contraction rate), Automotive & Auto-related (22.5 per cent contraction rate) and Entertainment (16.82 per cent contraction rate)

National vs. Local Spending

Even when factoring in political ad spend, local advertising is down with a 2.89 per cent contraction rate, but national ad spend is surging with a growth rate of 4.69 per cent. When excluding political ad spend, local continues to be down at a 3.25 per cent contraction rate, with national at a contraction rate of .77 per cent, demonstrating flat growth at a national level without a political factor.

Categories: Ads, Advertising, Articles, Broadcast, Digital Radio, Markets, Research