USA: Ad spending stays flat in first quarter

The media economy has gotten off to another slow start to the year.

Ad spending in the first quarter was essentially flat to first-quarter 2012, according to numbers out this morning from Kantar Media.

Spending declined by 0.1 percent from January to March, to $30.2 billion.

That came against tough comparisons to last year, when presidential candidates were spending heavily on advertising for the early primaries.

Even so, only two major categories measured by Kantar, outdoor and free standing inserts, saw growth of more than 1 percent.

Magazines and television both saw growth of less than 1 percent, and radio and newspapers were both down from last year.

Kantar did not include digital data for first quarter because of changes in measurement. That data will be back in second quarter, the company said.

“It has been a lackluster start for 2013, with flat year-over-year results due in part to strong 2012 growth caused by political and Olympic ad spending,” said Jon Swallen, chief research officer at Kantar Media North America.

TV, which benefits most from both political and Olympic, got off to a sluggish start to the year, most notably on broadcast.

Network TV ad spending fell 5.2 percent during first quarter. Kantar attributed the decline to two major factors. read more http://www.medialifemagazine.com/ad-spending-stays-flat-in-first-quarter/