Kantar Media: Advertising Spending Increased 7.1% in Q3 2012

Total advertising expenditures in the third quarter of 2012 increased 7.1 percent from a year ago and finished the period at $34.5 billion, according to data released today (Dec. 17) by Kantar Media. Total spending for the first nine months of the year grew 3.8 percent to $101.3 billion. Network Radio spending rose 26.3 percent in Q3 but comparisons were inflated by the addition of more radio programming to Kantar Media’s monitoring. Expenditures in National Spot Radio were 9.4 percent higher with about one-half of the net dollar volume growth attributable to the political category. “Political campaigns and the Summer Olympics delivered their expected bonanza in the third quarter, adding roughly $1.8 billion of incremental spending to the marketplace,” says Jon Swallen, Chief Research Officer at Kantar Media North America. “Looking beyond these special events and focusing on indicators of core health, our data show that more than 60 percent of the Top 1000 advertisers increased their budgets year-over-year. This proportion has been stable for several quarters and indicates marketers are holding the course.”

The Summer Olympics and political advertising dominated the ad market in the third quarter of 2012. Television media were the prime beneficiaries. Network TV expenditures rose 29.9 percent, with the London Games generating approximately $1 billion of incremental money for the sector. Spot TV spending surged 19.8 percent as the expected flood of money from political candidates, parties and groups rolled in. Spanish Language TV budgets increased 17.8 percent, aided by the combination of higher sell-out levels at key national networks and political category spending on local stations. Syndication TV expenditures jumped 9.3 percent on strong growth from consumer package goods, insurance and restaurant marketers. Cable TV expenditures grew by just 2.9 percent, a slower rate of growth than previous quarters, reflecting the diversion of some TV advertising budgets to the Olympics. Internet Display advertising fell 4.3 percent in the third quarter. Spending totals, which do not include either video or mobile ad formats, were dragged down by weaker results from mid-size web sites. Print media continued to lag the overall ad market. Expenditures in National Newspapers tumbled 17.2 percent on commensurate reductions in the amount of space sold. Consumer Magazines fell 3.2 percent as weaker spending from pharmaceutical and direct response marketers negated gains from the apparel and food categories.