Advertising spending on linear television fell 7% in the fourth quarter from the prior year, according to ad intelligence company Guideline.

Guideline, which acquired Standard Media Index in 2022, said the decline was the biggest since it started tracking U.S. ad spending in 2017. 

Since Q4 2017, ad spending on linear TV has been falling at an average compounded rate of 3.4%.

With the writers and actors strikes disrupting production of scripted programming, spending on entertainment premieres was down 27%, Guideline side.

Overall spending on entertainment programming was down 16% in the quarter as viewing continues its shift to streaming.

Linear TV’s bright spot was live sports, which were up 3.4% in the quarter. National Football League programming led the way, drawing 22% more in ad spending than a year ago.

“Q4 2023 represented a microcosm of the U.S. national linear TV landscape. Live sports ad revenue and market share alike crested, thanks to the NFL, while entertainment programming waned to a trough, amid a challenging climate of labor strikes and streaming services,” Nicole McCurnin, insights director at Guideline, said.

Spending on news programming was down 7% in the quarter, but Guideline said it expects spending to kick up in 2024 because of the presidential election.

Guideline found that the only key product category that increased spending in Q4 was pharmaceuticals, which registered a 3.5% gain in spending.

Guideline ad-spending data comes from invoices in the computer systems of all major media-buying holding companies and most major independent buyers.

National linear television advertising spending dropped 2% in December, leaving spending down 5% for the year, according to new figures from Standard Media Index.

Ad spending was affected by the shift of NFL football to streaming, particularly the move of Thursday Night Football from Fox and the NFL Network exclusively to Amazon Prime Video. Including NFL streaming, national linear spending was up 2% in December.\

The December drop was an improvement over recent months. Spending was down 11% in October and 4% in November, leaving the fourth quarter down 6%.

Also: Ad Market Has ‘Bottomed Out,’ NBCU CEO Jeff Shell Says

For December, advertising on broadcast TV was down 1.1%, cable fell 2.8% and syndication dropped 2.3%.

For Q4, broadcast was down 3%, cable fell 8% and syndication dropped 15%.

With the NFL season, fourth-quarter spending on sports was up 2%.  By contrast, spending on news was down 7% and spending on entertainment programming was down 10%.

For the year, spending on sports was the most stable, edging down 1%, while news fell 7% and entertainment dropped 6%.

Spending on national TV transacted during the upfront was down 2% in the quarter, compared to a 20% drop in scatter market spending. Spending on direct response was down 10%.  ■

Ad spending on national linear TV is down $500 million so far in the fourth quarter following a 2% decline in November, according to new figures from Standard Media Index.

Spending so far in the quarter is down 6%. Cable spending is down 7%, broadcast is 5% lower and syndication has taken a 19% dive.

The bright spot appears to be sports. The category is up 1% in the quarter as growth in other sports offsets the shift of NFL Thursday Night Football from Fox to Amazon Prime Video. Adjusting for the move of TNF, national linear TV ad spending was down just 0.6% in November.

Sports spending was up 12% in November. Spending on NFL and college football games was down 15% because of the TNF situation. Adding TNF revenue from Prime Video back into the linear total reduced the drop to 8%.

Despite the drop, football (college and pro) generated the most ad spending at $1.1 billion.

Thanks to the World Cup, spending on soccer was up $209 million, baseball was up $69 million and NCAA football spending was up by $44 million.

So far in the fourth quarter, spending on entertainment programming is down 10%. Spending on news programming is also down 10%, SMI said.

Spending by tech companies was down 44% (or $181 million) in the quarter. Financial-services spending was down 13% and auto spending fell 2%. Travel industry spending was up 87%. Consumer packaged goods brands increased their spending by 16%. ■

Advertiser spending on national linear TV was down 7% in October compared to a year ago, with a sharp drop in activity in the scatter market...

Spending on the broadcast networks dropped 12% while spending on cable was down 4%. Syndication declined 19%.

The figures come from data and analytics company Standard Media Index.

Also Read: GroupM Forecasts U.S. TV Ad Spending Edging up in 2023

This year’s upfront took place before the ad market turned soft and advertising spending based on upfront buyer was down just 0.3% compared to a year ago. But scatter buys, made closer to when the commercials are schedule to air, plummeted 39%. 

Direct response advertising was down 15%.

Spending on Entertainment programming was down 6%, spending on sports dropped10% and spending on news fell down 9%. 

Spending by consumer packaged good advertisers was down 4%. Spending by financial services advertisers was down 20% and tech companies showed a 30% drop in spending. Entertainment and media companies’ spending was down 10%.

Pharma spending was up 9% and general business spending was up 11%.  ■

Amid talk of an advertising spending slowdown, connected TV chalked a big gains in the third quarter compared to a year ago, according to new figures from Standard Media Index.

SMI said that advertisers spent $926 million on connected TV, up from $664 million a year ago.

The biggest increase came from the travel, auto and restaurant categories, all of which were depressed during the pandemic.

Also Read: Linear TV Ad Spending Sees Uptick in September, SMI Says

In the third quarter, the travel category showed a 159% gain, auto revved up 96% and restaurants climbed 90%.

All of the categories measured by SMI showed increases. At the bottom of the list with the most modest gains worn by apparel & accessories, up just 0.5% and consumer packaged goods up 11.6%.

SMI data represents actual ad spending among all major holding companies and most major independents, accounting for some 95% of national brand spending. ■

Advertising spending on linear TV was up 0.3% in September compared to a year ago, according to new figures from Standard Media Index.

The September gain followed declines in May, June, July and August. For the third quarter, spending was down 14% compared to the 2021 quarter.

In the third quarter, spending on broadcast TV was down 24%, spending on cable was off 8% and syndication was up 15%.

Spending on sports programming was down 43% in the quarter. A year ago, the Olympics and the NBA Finals were in the third quarter. Spending on entertainment programming was up 1% and spending on news programming was down 1%.

Advertising bought through upfront deals was down 10% in the quarter, while scatter spending was off 24% and direct response was down 17%.

In September, spending by consumer packaged goods marketers — the largest single category at nearly $500 million — was down 6%. Spending by pharmaceutical makers was up 19% and entertainment and media company spending was up 2%. ■

Private Equity firm GTCR, which acquired Standard Media Index and SQAD, said it has added four senior executives to its marketing technology company PC Dreamscape.

David Hogan, previously with Mediaocean, was named chief technology officer; Dmitri Zolotkovsky from OpenSlate, becomes CFO; Harmon Lyons, previously with TransUnion, was named executive VP and general manager and Rose Zory of Integral Ad Science, was tapped as chief human resources officer.

“We are at a pivotal moment in the advertising industry where accurate tracking of ad spend patterns is increasingly crucial to understanding the health of the marketplace and driving media strategies,” said Scott Knoll, CEO of PC Dreamscape.

“Our combined robust insights from SMI and SQAD are a source of truth as we navigate the path ahead where fears of recession loom, Knoll said. “Under the guidance and expertise of our expanded leadership team, Dreamscape - and the companies under it - will further solidify itself as a leader in the advertising space and continue to expand the scope and functionality of our solutions to further help our clients.”

GTCR was founded in 1980 in Chicago and follows what it calls The Leadership Strategy by finding and partnering with management leader to build company through acquisitions and organic growth, investment more than $20 billion in 250 companies. 

It formed Dreamscape as a partnership with Knoll, David Hahn and Michael Iantosca to build a marketing technology business.  ■

Spending on national TV advertising fell 7% in August from a year ago, following a 30% plunge in July, according to new figures from Standard Media Index’s AccuTV service.

The latest decline left broadcast down 42% in the third quarter, with cable off 6% and syndication dropping 19%.

SMI said a large share of the drop was due to the Tokyo Summer Olympics taking place last year and because other sporting events, including the NBA Finals, were played in July and August in 2021, but occurred earlier this year as pro leagues returned to their normal, pre-pandemic schedules.

Sports spending is down 67% so far this quarter, while entertainment spending is up 3% and news is down 2%.

Spending resulting from upfront buys was down 16%. Scatter dropped 36% and direct response advertising is off by 20%.

SMI said spending by pharmaceutical marketers was up 12% in August, the first increase since September 2021. With the holiday push starting, retail advertising was up 4%, its first increase since April.

Spending on consumer packaged goods was down by single digits, the first decline that small since August after 12 months of double-digit plunges. ■

Spanish-language television networks have growing ad revenue to celebrate this Hispanic Heritage month.

According to new figures from Standard Media Index, broadcast year-to-date national revenue for Spanish-language TV networks were up 9% to $1.5 billion, the second-straight year of 9% growth.

The back-to-back bonanza separates Spanish-language TV from the TV market overall, which bounced back from the pandemic during the 2020-21 broadcast year but have been largely flat for 2021-22.

The most recent figures for SMI stretch from October 2021 to July of 2022, according to Nicole McCurnin, director of advertising insights at SMI.

“It’s been a consistent growth area,” McCurnin said.

SMI looked at 13 networks and saw growth across almost all of them. One network, El Rey, dropped off cable and out of SMI’s rankings as it shifted to streaming this year.

Spanish-language ad revenue is dominated by TelevisaUnivision’s Univision’s broadcast network, accounting for $768 million in spending or close to 50% of the total. So fair this broadcast year, Univision revenue is up 12%.

Comcast’s Telemundo network is No. 2 at $371 million in revenue, up 5%.

TelevisaUnivision owns the next three networks on the list, with Univmas up 10%, Galavision up 14% and sports network TUDN up 18%.

The remaining Spanish-language TV networks were up 3% combined.

The main reason for Spanish-language network revenue growth is the continued increase in the Hispanic population, McCurnin said. But other factors including a slower shift to streaming among Hispanics, although that may change with the launch earlier this year of TelevisaUnivision’s ViX and other Spanish-language streamers.

More advertisers are using Spanish-language media, but the biggest spending categories, according to SMI are pharmaceuticals, entertainment and retail. ■

Advertising spending on national linear TV fell 1% in June to $3.138 billion, according to new figures from Standard Media Index.

Spending on cable TV dropped 12% to $1.946 billion, while broadcast increased 23% to $1.05 billion, SMI said. Syndication grew 33% to 142.2 million.

The June performance left linear TV spending for the second quarter down 1% at $9.617 billion. Cable was down 1%, broadcast was down 2% and syndication was up 6%.

For the quarter spending on sports was up a whopping 21%, mostly because the NBA Finals were played in June this year versus July last year. Entertainment programming was down 5% and news was down 7%.

Spending resulting from last years strong upfront generated a 3% increase in the quarter, while scatter was down 15%. Direct response spending was down 4%.

The drop in cable spending meant that Warner Bros. Discovery’s share of the maret fell 18% in June from a year ago to 21%, still leading all media companies. The Walt Disney Co. was up 11% to 19%. Comcast was down 7% to 18%, Paramount was up 7% to 16% and Fox was up 18$ to 5%.

Top spending ad categories in June were consumer packaged goods, down 13% year over year, pharmaceuticals up 0.2%, general business, up 13%, financial services, down 22% and tech, down 7%. Entertainment and media was up 34% and autos were up 7%.  ■

National advertising spending on linear TV rose almost 1% in May, according to Standard Media Index.

Broadcast TV was down 5.4% in May, while cable was up 4.3%. Syndication dropped 5.9%

Spending growth slowed from April’s 4% increase, leaving the quarter-to-date increase at 2%, which is also down from the 5% increase registered in the first quarter of 2022.

The increase reflects last year’s strong upfront. Spending on upfront ad commitments is up 4% so far this quarter after an 8% increase in Q1. Scatter is relatively weak, down 2% so far in Q2 following a 7% drop in Q1. Direct-response ad revenue is up 5% so far in the second quarter.

Also: Ad Data Firm Standard Media Index Sold to Equity Investor GTCR

So far this quarter, broadcast TV is down 11% from a year ago. It is still up 3% from 2020, the year disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cable TV is up 10% so far in Q2 after a 1% drop in the first quarter. SMI said that cable set an all-time record for upfront spending on sports so far this quarter at $1.2 billion. 

NBA ad spending doubled from a year ago, nearly the levels seen in 2018 to 2019 as the league’s schedule returns to normal, SMI said.

The National Hockey League, which moved to ESPN and Turner Sports this year from NBCUniversal, was up 83% this quarter. The Kentucky Derby was up 4%.

Overall spending on sports was up 42%. Meanwhile, news was down 2% and entertainment dropped 6%. 

The strength in sports helped Warner Bros. Discovery and The Walt Disney Co. increase their share of the ad market so far this quarter. WBD had a 25% share, up 2% and Disney had a 17% share, up 11% so far in the quarter.

Comcast’s share was 16%, down 13%; Paramount's share was 16%, dropping 4%. Fox’s share was 6%, up 4%. ■

Industry veteran Ben Tatta was named chief commercial officer of Operative.

Tatta was previously president of Standard Media Index, which was acquired earlier this month by GTCR, which installed Scott Knoll as CEO of SMI.

Before joining SMI, Tatta helped Kristin Dolan and Dolan Family Venture launch the measurement firm 605 in 2016.

Tatta earlier had spent 10 years with Cablevision Systems, rising to president of Cablevision Media Sales. He also held posts at USA Network, IBM and CapCities/ABC.

Operative also said that it hired Michael Grossi, who has run enterprise software companies as its new CEO.

Also: Imagine, Operative Team Up To Automate Sales for Sinclair

Former CEO Lorne Brown will remain a member of the board and focus on market development and investment strategy.

“I’ve been following Operative as a leading player in this industry for many years, with a renewed focus over the past few years as they continue to bring new transformational capabilities to market with their AOS platform,” Tatta said. “When Lorne and Michael approached me about leading Operative to the next level of scale and growth, it was not only a very logical fit based on my experience but also an exciting opportunity to help transform the way media companies do business.” ■

Standard Media Index, which collects and analyzes advertising spending data, said that it has been acquired by private equity firm GTCR  and that James Fennessy is stepping down as SMI’s CEO.

The move comes at a time when money is pouring into companies in the data and ad tech businesses. Nielsen is being acquired by Elliott Investment Management for $16 billion and Goldman Sachs made a $325 million investment in iSpot.tv, one of the companies looking to use big data to challenge Nielsen in the media measurement business.

GTCR is buying 100% of SMI through Dreamscape, another company in its portfolio. Dreamscape founder and CEO Scott Knoll was named CEO of SMI, with Fennessey becoming a member of Dreamscape’s board and a consultant to the company.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Founded in 1980, GTCR formed Dreamscape in 2020 with Knoll, David Hahn and Michael Iantosca. with plans to acquire companies and assets to become a leading marketing technology business.

“We see tremendous upside potential in SMI and its advertising software solutions,” said Craig Bondy, managing director and co-head of TMT at GTCR. “The company is well-positioned in the marketing and advertising industry with deep relationships with its partners and customers which have served it well. We believe that our investment, alongside the Dreamscape team, will provide the resources to expand SMI’s current product portfolio to address new markets and create fully integrated solutions for its customers.”

In April, GTCR and Dreamscape made an investment in SQAD, another company in the advertising data, analytics and media planning business. (SQAD collects data from advertisers, SMI sources its data from media buying agencies). As part of that transaction, SQAD CEO Mark Krigsman stepped down, with Knoll becoming SQAD’s CEO.

“SMI’s leading data and ad intelligence products provide clients with real-time information to help drive better strategies around spend, placement and yield optimization,” said Knoll, who was CEO of Integral Ad Science from 2011 to 2020. 

“With the proliferation of media channels and ad types, the insights that SMI can help provide are now an essential driver of media strategy. The company’s deep relationships with clients and agency partners are underpinned by its customer-centric approach and its commitment to innovation. The SMI team has built a truly unique offering and, together with our partners at GTCR, we believe there is an opportunity to further advance the platform and drive growth across the business,” said Kroll. 

SMI was co-founded by Sue Fennessy and Jane Ractliffe in 2009 in Australia and moved headquarters to New York in 2011. SMI gives the marketing industry a real-world view into advertising spend, ad revenue, media pricing and future-booked commitments that are used by networks, media agencies and advertisers in media mix models, competitive share of spend analyses and for setting pricing benchmarks.

“Today is an important milestone for the entire SMI team, our partners and our clients, as we look toward our next stage of growth,” said James Fennessy, who took over as CEO in 2016.

“This investment is a culmination of Sue’s vision for SMI and a testament to the dedication and professionalism of the SMI team that has enabled us to transform how transparent ad cost and spend data is used by the industry,” he said. “The goal of SMI has always been to form strategic relationships with the world’s leading data-driven companies by providing actionable advertising expenditure and pricing data to ultimately help improve decision making. It is through this core mission that we have grown to be a trusted global source of ad intelligence. This partnership with GTCR and Dreamscape is the next step in our journey and we are all very excited at the potential this new venture will deliver for our partners and customers.” ■

Advertising spending on national linear TV increased 5% in April, compared to the same month in 2021, after a flat month in March, according to new figures from Standard Media Index.

The newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery had the largest share of revenue, getting a boost from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. WBD’s share of ad dollars rose 40% to 28%.

Also: Upfront: Warner Bros. Discovery Puts Sports in Its Premier Package

Most of the other media companies were down, except for Fox Corp., which was up 3% thanks to a boost from sports that offset decreases in reality and news. 

Cable TV accounted for about two-thirds of linear ad dollars — a new high, according to SMI, while broadcast dipped below a 30% share for the first time. 

Cable was up 18% in March. Broadcast was down 16%. Syndication was up 11%.

The April increase in linear spending was driven by a 58% jump in ad dollars going to sports programming. NBA and college basketball programming accounted for 57% of sports spending in the quarter. ■

With the finals of the NCAA shifting from CBS last year to TBS, Paramount Global's sports revenue in the quarter was down 88%. Overall Paramount's share of linear ad dollars was down 17%. Disney dropped 7% and Comcast was down 2%.

Spending on entertainment programming was down 4% and spending on news dipped 3%.

A strong scatter market also contributed to the April performance.

Scatter spending climbed 13% from a year ago. Upfront was up 5% and still accounted for 75% of overall volume. Direct response was down 5%.

Despite the April gain–its biggest this year–linear TV lags 2019 levels, when digital video growth accelerated. ■

After a 3% increase in March, advertiser spending on national television finished the first quarter up 6%, according to new figures from Standard Media Index.

The increase left the industry 0.3% ahead of where it was in the first quarter of 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was starting to affect the U.S.

Broadcast TV was up 15% in the quarter compared to 2021, helped by the Winter Olympics on NBC. Cable was up 2%. Syndication was down 14%. Cable had a 54% share of linear ad dollars, compared to broadcast’s 43% share.

Sports programming was the big gainer, registering a 31% increase. With the midterm election campaigns just getting started, news was down 11%. Spending on entertainment programming was down 2%.

Spending on inventory bought during the upfront was up 9%, while scatter spending was down 2%. Direct response was down 0.1%.

SMI said that of the top programmers, the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery had the largest share of national TV ad spending with 25%, down 1% from the year before. Paramount had a 24% share and its total was down 2%. NBCU was up 3% in spending and had a 15% share. Spending on Disney was up 6%, getting a boost from the Oscars (in second quarter last year) and NBA basketball, giving Disney a 14% share. Fox was down 6% and had a 5% share of the national television market.■

Broadcast TV ad sales rose 15% in February with NBC airing coverage of the Winter Olympic Games from Beijing, according to the latest figures from Standard Media Index.

February was also a big month for TV networks in terms of digital video sales, which were up 83%. Some of that was probably Olympic dollars feathering NBCU's Peacock’s nest. Peacock was home based for NBCU's Olympic programming.

Overall the big media companies that own television networks are making more of an effort to reach viewers through their digital and streaming platforms as traditional TV ratings shrink.

The networks’ digital sales accounted for 5% of all media spending in February. That compares to broadcast TV’s share of 17% and cable TV’s 15% share, per SMI.

Cable TV ad spending was down 7% in February and syndication was down 16%.

In a non-election year spot TV was down 3%, and local TV and cable was down 1%. 

Ad sales involving third parties, notably including media targeting, barter and ad tech companies, as well as rep firms, was up 17%. 

Total linear TV was up 2% compared to a year ago in February.

In addition to the sales by the TV networks, digital was strong, with pure-play video outfits (including YouTube and Hulu) up 32%. Also rising were spending via ad networks and ad exchanges, up 19%.

Total digital was up 25% in the month, representing 54% of all ad spend.

SMI’s data comes from invoices at major and independent agencies and it skews toward nationally advertised brands. ■

Linear TV advertising sales slowed in February, leaving year-to-date linear TV investments up 6% so far this year compared to last year, according to Standard Media Index.

In January, linear TV sales were up 9%.

But sales remain down from 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. Compared to 2020, linear television ad sales are down 6% so far this year.

Broadcast TV sales are up 17% so far this year, offset by a 4% decline in cable. SMI said that TV sales were boosted by the Olympics, NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl LVl. So far, 2022 has been the best year ever for broadcast dollars.

That made Comcast NBCUniversal, which carried those big sports events, a big winner. Comcast media revenue was up 139% in February, topping Google in the ad revenue tracked by SMI. Google was up 13%. Disney was down 10%, Facebook was up 16% and Paramount was down 59% after having the Super Bowl on CBS in February 2021.

Comcast’s share of ad dollars was 18%, followed by Google at 12%, The Walt Disney Co. at 7%, Facebook at 6% and Paramount at 5%.

Across all media, ad investment rose 15% year over year in February, leaving it up 17% so far in 2022.

So far this year, digital advertising is up 26% and accounts for 51% of all ad dollars.

Out of home jumped 116%, radio was up 16% and newspapers showed a 12% gain.

Magazines are down 27% so far this year.

SMI gets its figures from the invoices at all of the major holding companies and most major independents, representing 95% of national brand ad spending. ■

National television advertising spending rose 9% in January from a year ago, according to new data from Standard Media Index.

The January gain left TV spending up 0.1% from January 2020, months before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in America.

SMI said that broadcast TV was up 19%, while cable was down 3%.

The overall advertising market across all media was up 19% in January from a year ago.

As usual, digital was a big gainer, jumping 27% .Over two years, digital spending has increased 43%.

But out-of-home had an even bigger increase at 133% compared to last year. Newspapers were up 40% and radio was up 21%.

Also: Ho Ho Ho! Holiday Programming Paid Off for Hallmark, NBC, Freeform

Magazines were down 31%. Over two years, magazine ad revenues have plunged 54%.

The biggest spending advertiser category was tech, up 31%. CPG was up 2% and pharma increased spending by 8%. Autos were down 7%, but retail came back with a 29% bump and travel rebounded with spending climbing 266%. 

Standard Media Index gets it spending data from invoices at all of the major media agency holding companies and most major independents, representing 95% of national brand ad spend. ■

With people more comfortable going into stores, television advertising for many major retailers was way up during the holiday season.

According to an analysis by Samba TV, Walmart, the top advertiser in the fourth quarter, increased its number of TV impressions by 20% from a year ago. 

Target’s impressions were 35%, Kohl’s grew 25% and Macy’s were up 34%, according to Samba TV.

Traditional retailers represented four of the top 10 advertisers during the fourth quarter. In addition to Walmart in the top slot, Target was No. 6, Kohl’s was No. 7 and Macy’s was eighth. 

Also: Ho Ho Ho! Holiday Programming Paid Off for Hallmark, NBC, Freeform

Walmart, Target and Macy’s did not rank in the top 10 during the third quarter.

Also breaking into the top five was Amazon. Amazon did not rank in the top five in the fourth quarter of 2020 despite the high volume of online shopping during the first COVID christmas, Samba TV noted. 

Some retailers focused on the Hispanic market. Target generated the most impressions advertising on Telemundo, followed by Univision. For Walmart, Univision and UniMás were the No. 2 and No. 3 networks in terms of impressions.

Looking just at the peak holiday season, between Black Friday and Christmas, retailers pulled out the stops when it came to TV advertising, Walmart, Target, Kohl’s and Macy’s all served more than 1.5 billion impressions, as did Amazon. 

Samba TV said Kohl’s did the best job in achieving reach while limiting frequency. The average household exposed to Kohl’s ad during the holidays saw 22 of them. Households that saw ads for Walmart saw 42 of them and households that saw Target ads saw 32 of them. Those retailers were more likely to reach oversaturation and annoy potential shoppers, Samba TV said.

“With the viewership landscape more fractured than it’s ever been, it’s never been more imperative for marketers to utilize a holistic view across both linear and streaming,” Samba TV VP of measurement Cole Strain said. “By leveraging Samba TV’s independent, first-party data set culled from 40-plus million devices marketers can truly understand their audience reach and true ROI.” ■

Santa Claus was very good to Hallmark Channel, NBC, Freeform and others who aired holiday programming during the Christmas season.

While linear television overall found coal in its stocking — except for football, of course — ad revenues for holiday programming rose 2% to $531 million, according to an analysis by Standard Media Index. Revenues were up 3% compared to 2019.

More networks jumped into Christmas-movie mode — notably GAC Family, run by former Hallmark Channel head Bill Abbott — putting visions of sugar plums in the eyes and wallets of media buyers.

“Holiday programming remains a touchpoint that advertisers want to be a part of,” SMI advertising insights director Nicole McCurnin said. “During the 2020 holiday season, folks were even more cooped up than they were this past year. Running in these nostalgic type programs does build goodwill for brands.”

Also: Retailers Were Big Advertisers Over Holiday Season: Samba TV

McCurnin noted that overall, the fourth quarter is an important time of year for ad spending, but total linear ad spending was down 3% in December. “You can obviously say that the holiday-specific programming outperformed,” she said.

SMI’s data covers linear national advertising. While ad-supported streaming services also ran a significant amount of holiday programming, SMI gets its spending data from ad agency traffic computers and ad buyers do not get complete information about the shows from streaming and digital video outlets where specific ads appear. So, good data on streaming ad revenue isn’t available.

Crown Media’s Hallmark Channel, which has been pursuing a holiday-oriented programming strategy for years, was tops in generating ad revenue from Christmas movies and other holiday programming.

Hallmark Channel holiday programming revenue was $147.8 million for November and December, up by 1% to a three-year peak. It has a 28% share of holiday programming revenue, even with last year. Top titles were Next Stop, Christmas, which brought in $4.4 million in ad spending; and Open by Christmas and A Christmas Treasure, each garnering $3.2 million.

Hallmark also generates incremental revenue with its “Christmas in July” stunt, McCurnin noted. That’s something other networks don’t and probably couldn’t pull it off. “Hallmark is really tapping into that brand equity and owning the holiday year-round,” she said.

Crown Media’s Hallmark Movies & Mysteries had the fifth-most ad revenue from holiday programming with $48.9 million, up 11%.

Viewers Loved a Parade

NBC had the biggest single holiday telecast with its broadcast of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which raked in $54 million. Thirty-second commercials during the parade sold for an average of $540,000, up from $475,000 in 2020.

Overall, NBC generated $89.4 million in holiday programming ad revenue, up 19% from 2020. Its annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center special drew $11 million and the holiday staple It’s a Wonderful Life brought in $4.7 million.

The Walt Disney Co’.s Freeform was third with $76.9 million in revenue in holiday programming, up 4%.

Freeform runs its annual “25 Days of Christmas” stunt, but not every program that appeared as part of 25 Days was counted as holiday programming by SMI. SMI didn’t include Toy Story revenue in its calculations. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and Home Alone were Freeform’s top performers. (While many consider Die Hard a Christmas movie, SMI said it didn't appear on ad-supported linear TV in November or December.)

Among other networks generating significant revenue from holiday programming were Lifetime, with $55.6 million in ad revenues, down 19% from 2020; ABC, with $41.8 million, down 1%. AMC m with $31.4 million, down 32%, CBS (which reentered the original holiday movie fray with A Christmas Proposal) at $19.2 million, up 55% and TBS, home of the A Christmas Story marathon, with $14.2 million, up 84%.

Newcomer GAC Family generated $2.2 million in ad revenue from its holiday programming. Worth noting: GAC announced its holiday programming plans after the upfront, missing a lot of potential ad dollars. ■ 

The delay of the 64th Annual Grammy Awards because of the spread of COVID-19 puts the estimated $67 million in ad sales the show has generated for CBS in jeopardy.

The 2021 Grammys generated $67.6 million in ad revenue for CBS, according to ad data and analysis company Standard Media Index. That was up from $67 million in 2020 and $60.2 million in 2019, despite falling viewership.

Advertisers paid an average of $866,200 for 30-second spots in the 2021 broadcast, according to SMI, up from $831,000 in 2020 and $784,400 in 2019.

No new date for the award show has been set.

A postponement could lead some advertisers to change plans. If the awards are canceled, CBS would lose a high-profile, premium event.

If COVID-19 makes it difficult to stage the event in person, without compelling live performances, viewership could further erode.

SMI gets its ad sales data from invoices in the computer systems of most of the largest media buying agencies. ■

Linear television advertising spending fell 1% in November compared to a year ago, with local cable operators chalking up big gains, according to new figures from Standard Media Index.

National broadcast and cable networks were each down 2% for the month.

Local TV station ad sales were down 9% compared to the 2020 election year.

Also: GroupM Sees 23% CTV Growth, More Political Spending, Boosting TV

But local spending with cable operators was up 30%, Also rising were third-party sales through rep firms, tech companies and others.

Syndication was also down 24%.

Total ad spending for November was up 10% from last year and up 17% compared to 2019, SMI said. 

Spending on digital was up 17%, out-of-home jumped 84% and radio grew 23%.

Also: Top AVOD Platforms Generated $3.5 Billion in Ad Dollars Over 12 Months

Technology companies outspent consumer packaged goods marketers during the month. The tech companies spent more on both linear TV and digital amid the holiday gift-giving season.

Spending by travel companies was three times what they were a year ago. 

Standard Media Index gets it data from invoices at all six global ad agency holding companies and major independent agencies. The data represent 95% of national brand advertiser spending. ■

Standard Media Index said it hired Rick Bruner as head of its insights and analytics division.

Bruner most recently had been president of Central Control, a media analytics firm. He will remain chairman of Central Control.

“SMI is thrilled to welcome respected research pioneer Rick Bruner to the team. A leader in his field, he brings a wealth of knowledge, his impressive network, and extensive leadership experience running advanced research and analytics teams to the SMI family. Rick will play an instrumental role in the continued growth and development of SMI’s Insights & Analytics practice,” said Ben Tatta, president of Standard Media Index.

Before Central Control, Bruner held posts at DoubleClick, Google, MTV Networks and Viant Technology.

“Standard Media Index is living up to its name and becoming an essential currency for the ad industry. As a measurement specialist, I can see how the comprehensiveness, precision and accuracy of this data is going to change the world of advertising, for the better. I couldn’t be prouder to play my part,” said Bruner.

At a time when more ad dollars are shifting from traditional TV to digital video, research company Standard Media Index has developed a new metric that enables buyers and brands to better compare the costs of network and cable to over-the-top.

The new metric is effective cost per thousand viewers--eCPM. Brands buy television based on estimates of how many viewers they expect their commercials to reach. Sometimes campaigns exceed those forecasts, sometimes they fall short and, if there’s a guarantee, the brand gets makegood ads to cover the shortfall.

Read Also: Standard Media Index Names Dave Dembrowski VP Sales

Digital ads are sold based on impressions, and commercials stop being served exactly when the contracts number of impressions have been delivered.

To calculate its new metric, SMI takes its detailed TV unit pricing data and ratings from Nielsen to see how many viewers a campaign actually reached to calculate the real cost per thousand or eCPM. 

The buyers and sellers both can use eCPM to compare the cost of broadcast and digital within their campaigns.

“TV has always been a challenge because we haven’t been able to compare digital CPMs to TV’s gross ratings points," SMI president Ben Tatta told Broadcasting+Cable. "In the case of TV it’s really important to find an apples to apples way to understand the effective rate for a show, a network, a daypart.”

He said unless you have the kind of pricing data SMI gets from the buying agencies, including whether ads are bought in the upfront or in scatter or are paid or makegood units, getting accurate numbers is difficult.

“You can do the math for your own inventory, but we can provide that benchmarking capability,” Tatta said. That allows publishers to compare their rates to competitors,’ and for buyers to maximize the efficiency of their campaigns.

Tatta said the SMI is working with Nielsen to determine eCPMs for campaigns based on traditional demographic groups, such as women 18 to 49. It is working with another measurement company to determine the eCPMs of campaigns aimed at advanced audience segments, such as likely car buyers.

“This is all part of our new pricing intelligence suite, that include both digital CPMs, as well as linear eCPMs.

With linear ratings falling, eCPMs for traditional TV are often higher than the CPMs based on pre-campaign estimates.

For example, SMI said the eCPM for adults 18 to 49 in an NFL game is $108. A broadcast primetime show is $93 and tier one cable prime entertainment carries an eCPM of $42.

Tatta said the new eCPM metric can be using for planning and optimizing campaigns.

Though using eCPMs make TV appear more expensive relative to digital video, digital video prices are also high and there are many dayparts and networks where buyers can buy TV without a premium to digital.

“You’d be surprised. On TV, eCPMs really vary by daypart and if you move off prime, it’s really efficient,” Tatta said. Using eCPMs can help identify bargains.

“One of the first myths to bust is that TV is a lot more expensive,” he said.

Eventually both traditional TV and will be bought on an impression-based currency.

“We do think that it will evolve to an impression-based currency on TV. Over time, I think that’s inevitable,” Tatta said.

Standard Media Index said it hired Dave Dembowski as VP of sales.

Dembowski, previously senior VP of sales and business development at Ignition One, will oversee the expansion of the ad intelligence company’s sales team.

“It’s truly a pleasure to welcome Dave Dembowski to the SMI family. As an accomplished sales executive, he brings with him two decades of sales leadership and experience from top digital platforms. In this new role, he will be instrumental in further developing the sales pipeline and driving growth for the business, across the board,” said Ben Tatta, president, Standard Media Index.

Before IgnitionOne, Dembowki held posts at Yahoo and Edgar Online. 

"I’m thrilled to join the Standard Media Index team during an exciting time in its evolution. Access to marketplace economics is a critical function in evaluating advertising investments,” said Dembowski. “Understanding these dynamics provide measured value to the ecosystem and SMI is well-positioned to define these unique opportunities."

Television advertising spending rose 13% in March, compared to March 2020, the first month impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Standard Media Index.

The March increase is the first in more than a year, other than the slight 1% gain in March, SMI said.

The jump in March still leaves spending down 6% from the March 2019 level, but SMI noted that the data represents a “very positive trend” for TV as upfront season approaches.

Overall ad spending was up 22% in March. A year ago spending dropped 13% as businesses closed because of COVID. Spending was up 6.3% compared to March 2019.

SMI said that digital advertising is leading the market’s overall growth and was up 27% in March.

TV ad spending in the U.S. fell 5% during the fourth quarter, according to new data from Standard Media Index.

SMI says that overall media spending in the U.S. continues to show improvement, led by 26% fourth-quarter growth in digital spending.

Overall U.S. ad spending rose 6% in the fourth quarter. That follows a big 30% drop in the second quarter, when the economy was hurt by the early fallout from the Coronavirus outbreak. The spending decline slowed to 3% in the third quarter.

Ad spending has increased for five consecutive months starting in August. Spending was up 11% in November and 5% in December.

The growth in digital ad spending boosted it to a 53% share of spending, up 6%, overtaking traditional media. TV’s share fell 3% to 45%.

SMI said that national TV ad revenue is down 7% for January through September. News ad revenue is up 14%, while sports have been down 18%.

The NFL, which started its season on time and has had a handful of games rescheduled when players tested positive for the Coronavirus, is up 8% from a year ago. 

But other sports got kicked in the shins. Soccer is down 66% from 2019, when the women's World Cup was played. NCAA football was down 41%, not surprising given that many conferences cancelled their season or didn’t start playing till October.

Major League Baseball 40%, while tennis and Major League Baseball each were down 31%. Golf was 24% lower and the NBA was 22% while racing was off 18%.

The NCAA Men’s basketball tournament was lower 63% as the tournament was cancelled.

Ad data company Standard Media Index said it named Todd Koons as VP, strategic partnerships, a new position.

Koons, previously with PwC, will look to develop and grow SMI’s relationship with media agencies and marketers in the U.S.

He will report to Ben Tatta, who joined SMI in July as U.S. market president..

“This year has been unprecedented for the advertising industry as ad spend has fallen precipitously since March," said James Fennessy, CEO at Standard Media Index. "Digital spend is currently driving growth for the U.S. market, and as the rest of the industry moves towards recovery, SMI’s  spend and pricing data will be critical to ensure players across the ecosystem have access to the high quality data and insights they need to get back to growing their businesses. The appointment of Koons will allow us to continue to build on our network of strategic partners which will consolidate our position as the leading provider of decision grade advertising intelligence data within the U.S. market.” 

Koons was manager, marketing & media, licensing management & contract compliance at PwC. Before that he held posts at Ebiquity and UM Worldwide.

“Through my career in the advertising and media industry I have always explored new methods of addressing the challenges faced by advertisers and agencies in today’s dynamic marketplace,” said Koons. “In this new role at SMI, I am looking forward to working with and building on our network of partners within the U.S. market, and providing them with the market intelligence they need to empower smarter decisions.”

After a steep 31% drop in the second quarter because of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, TV advertising revenue was down 8% in the third quarter, according to new figures from Standard Media Index.

SMI said that spending returned as local lockdowns ended. The rebound was also fueled by high levels of news viewing and the delayed start of the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League playoffs.

SMI’s figures including national broadcast, cable, syndication, spot TV and local / MSO cable.

Overall ad spending was down 5% in the third quarter after a 32% drop in the second quarter.

Digital media actually turned positive, increasing 8% and accounting for 50% of spending between July and September. Search and digital video were particularly strong.

Other media, including out-of-home, cinema, radio and print were down 46% in the third quarter.

Among advertiser categories, pharmaceuticals were the top performer up 19%. The key auto category was down 19%.

Standard Media Index said it appointed Darrick Li as VP, sales and client services in Canada, where the ad spending intelligence service recently started doing business in April.

Li, who had been senior director of sales for Comscore, is the second senior executive SMI has hired in Canada, following Jason Keown, who was named VP, marketing, for North America.

“The Canadian media market has been stifled with a major lack of transparency around advertising expenditure. This hire is extremely important for SMI to build and grow our client base and use of data within the market,” said James Fennessy. CEO at Standard Media Index. “Darrick’s vast experience and solid relationships in the Canadian media space will give us the expertise we need to sufficiently tap into and grow our footprint, while providing the much needed data to help the industry forge ahead.”

“The information that SMI provides its clients is a gamechanger for the Canadian media space.  Agencies can better understand their advertising efforts and how they benchmark against the Canadian pool, while broadcasters and publishers will be able to find efficiencies and opportunities in their sales and strategic efforts,” said Li. “I’m looking forward to leveraging my established relationships and working with the team to grow SMI’s presence within Canada.”

The global COVID-19 pandemic reduced advertising revenue by 37.1% in the largely English-speaking markets where Standard Media Index operates, the company said in a new report.

Television advertising was down 35.2% in the U.S. and dropped even more--45.9%--in Canada. The U.K. saw a 32.6% decrease in TV revenue, Australia fell 36.8% and New Zealand dropped 32.3%.

The second-quarter declines were bigger than the 28.2% drop in the first quarter, when the pandemic began. 

"In each country, the ad markets hit the bottom in the April/May months with declines of 40% or more and that has pulled the average Q2 decline across the five countries down by almost nine percentage points,” said James Fennessy, CEO at SMI. “The good news is the worst is over and across all markets we’re reporting lower declines and also the first signs of market growth,’’ Fennessy said.

In each country, digital media is reporting the smallest declines in national ad spending, with an average drop of 26.6%. TV is the next most resilient, down 36.5%.

"TV and digital are clearly emerging as the media likely to bounce out of the COVID market in better shape as they’ve both experienced audience growth during this lockdown period,’’ Fennessy said. "Already the early US data for August is showing us that TV looks to be stabilizing with bookings back just 0.5%, and in Australia and NZ the early August data also shows television is delivering the lowest year-on-year declines of any major media.’’

The categories showing the biggest declines were travel, entertainment and clothing/apparel, all off in the 80% range.

On the other hand, pharmaceutical spending was up, along with household supplies in the U.S. and healthcare was up in Australia.

Early third quarter data see healthcare and home related products doing well.

"There is still immense caution in the business community, but these category trends show there remains a willingness to spend on personal goods and smart advertisers are moving to capitalize on those demands,’’ Fennessy said.

Ad intelligence company Standard Media Index said it named Jason Keown as VP, marketing, a new position.

Keown, who had been head of accounts at Community Agency in Canada and a volunteer advisor to MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, will focus on expanding SMI’s business in North America.

SMI has been growing its management ranks, having hired Ben Tatta as president of the U.S. market in July.

“Standard Media Index is on an exciting growth trajectory and we are working to ensure we have the right talent in place to accelerate our business globally. Canada is our fifth global market and an important one for us as we capture more than 94% of all national brand spend and have deep relationships with all the major agency holding groups and leading independents,” said James Fennessy, global CEO of SMI. “Jason’s vast experience within the Canadian media landscape will allow us to build strategies to grow our presence in the market, while using his marketing and digital expertise to drive our global vision.” 

Keown will report to Fennessy.

Over the course of his 20 year career using data and insights to build businesses, Keown has held posts with ad agencies DDB, Y&R and Cossette Communications, marketers including Burger King and Office Depot and TV companies Shaw Communications and Global Media.

“Standard Media Index is bringing a new level of data and transparency to the Canadian media market that has never before been available. Through my past experience with Shaw Communications, Global Media and other specialty cable channels, I understand the exponential value this data provides both broadcasters and agency partners,” said Keown. “I recognize the massive opportunity to embrace the use of our data to evolve and benefit the media industry. I’m looking forward to building awareness of the company and promoting our powerful products to the North American market.”

The drop in national TV ad revenue continues to slow, with June figures showing an 9% decline, leaving the second-quarter down 19%.

The June shortfall compared to a 28% plunge in April and a 19% drop in May.

National broadcast was down 23% in June and 26% for the quarter. National Cable was down 5% in June and down 17% for the quarter.

“In June, we saw that some advertising budgets are beginning to return to normal,” said James Fennessy, CEO of SMI. “With the gradual return of televised live sports and businesses and restaurants starting to reopen we expect results in the coming months to strengthen.”

SMI said the main reason for the decline in revenue was that lack of live sports on TV. In June, there was some soccer, golf, NASCAR and the Belmont Stakes, but no NBA Finals, NHL Stanley Cup and no regular season MLB baseball, leaving spending on sports down 60%.

In late July Major League Baseball belatedly started its season and the NBA and NHL began play in their respective bubbles. All drew high ratings.

The Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, which aired the NBA Finals last June, was down 51% in ad revenue. Disney’s ESPN was down 20%.

Spending in June for non-sports programming was up 2% in June, with the biggest increases coming in news. 

Fox News had a 55% increase in ad spending in June. Spending on CNN was up 86% and MSNBC was up 10%.

Among entertainment networks, CBS was up 12%, HGTV and BET grew 7% Univision was up 5% and Food grew 1% and TBS was flat.

Among programming companies, ad revenue in June rose 6% for A+E Networks and WarnerMedia and Univision was up 5%. Disney’s revenues were down 36% with no NBA Finals, Fox was down 18%, NBCUniversal was down 10%, Discovery was down 2% and ViacomCBS slipped 1%.

For the second quarter, all of the media companies’ ad revenue was down. Disney led with a 31% drop, followed by WarnerMedia, down 26%, ViacomCBS down 22%, NBCUniversal down 21%, Discover fell 15%, Univision was down 8%, Fox fell 5% and A+E was down 3%.

In June, ViacomCBS had a 19% share of ad spending. ViacomCBS was followed by NBCUniversal at 18%, The Walt Disney Co. at 13%, Discovery, at 13%; WarnerMedia 10%, Fox 6% and Univision 4%. Those eight owners account for 89% of all ad spend.

ViacomCBS finished the second quarter with a 19% share of ad revenue, followed by NBCU with 18%, Disney at 15%, Discovery at 12%, WarnerMedia 10%, Fox 7% and A+E 5% and Univision 3%.

Ben Tatta, a veteran TV data executive, has joined ad intelligence company Standard Media Index as president, a new post, effective immediately.

Tatta, most recently president and co-founder of analytics company 605, will report to SMI Global CEO James Fennessy, who is looking to expand the business in the U.S.  

“We have established ourselves as the preeminent provider of high quality and timely ad intel and pricing data over the past ten years. As we expand into new verticals we were looking for a senior executive who is trusted and respected in the industry, by media buyers, sellers and the measurement community,” said Fennessy.

“Ben has the perfect mix of experience in Advanced TV and Digital media, and established connections within publishers, agencies, and technology partners. His unique skill set, combined with valued industry relationships, will help to propel the growth of the company through new and innovative partnerships,” Fennessy said. “Additionally, Ben has already been a major contributor to a suite of new products we will soon be deploying that will provide tremendous added value to current clients, while opening up opportunities for expansion into new market segments.”

Before 605, Tatta was president of Cablevision Media Sales, a pioneer in addressable advertising. Prior to Cablevision, he worked at USA Networks, IBM, ABC and Lagardere Media.

“I am thrilled to be joining James and the broader team at Standard Media Index during this exciting time of rapid growth for the company,” said Tatta. “As the industry transitions to a more transparent model, the availability of more granular and accurate media spend and cost data will be a vital component of ad intelligence for both brands and publishers. Standard Media Index has become the gold standard in the industry, and I look forward to further building on the world-class foundation the company has established through their ten years in the U.S. market.” 

Television advertising revenue posted a smaller drop in May than in April as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to disrupt business, according to new figures from Standard Media Index.

TV revenue was down 23% to $716 million, SMI said. That compares to a drop of nearly 27% in April and left the 2020-21 broadcast season to date down 11.4%.

Broadcast ad revenue fell 23.9% to $234.9 million and cable was down 24% to $446.6 million. Syndication was up 2.5% to $34.9 million.

“Although in May the national TV ad marketplace is still in the doldrums, there have been some encouraging signs ad dollars will return in the second half of the year, especially with the anticipated return of live sports. We have high hopes for a quick recovery,” said James Fennessy, CEO of SMI.

When sports are taken out of the equation, May ad revenues were down just 15%. May is normally a big month for sports with the NBA and NHL playoffs going on, the first two legs of horse racing’s Triple Crown being run and Major League Baseball in full swing. But this year COVID canceled or postponed live sports although slowly they are starting to make their way back onto the field and onto a screen near you.

A year ago, sports accounted for 17% of ad dollars, generating $52.8 million in ad revenue. This May, sports spending dropped 66% to $52.8 million and accounted for just 8% of TV revenue. ESPN and TNT, which carry the NBA were hit hardest, with TNT ad revenue plummeting 70.4% and ESPN down 58.7%.

Ad spending on entertainment shows were down 24% on broadcast TV and 16.1% for cable. 

In primetime, ad spending was down 23.9%. While all of the five English language broadcast networks were down more than 20% apiece, Univision was up 12.6% in primetime ad revenue.

On cable, even entertainment networks that grew their audiences lost revenue, HGTV, the fourth most-watched cable network, saw its viewership go up 8% but revenue drop 15.8%. Food Network’s ratings were up 9%, but revenue fell 12.6% A&E was up 2%, but ad revenue was down 0.7%.

With big increases in viewing, ad revenue for TV news was up 9.7% to $103 million in May. Broadcast news revenue was up 1.1% and cable news grew 9.7%. Fox News revenue was up 28.8%,CNN was up 26.7% and MSNBC climbed 15%.  News represented 15% of all national TV revenue, up from 11% a year ago.

National television advertising revenue fell 26.7% to $2.7 billion in April from a year ago as the COVID-19 pandemic washed over the economy, research company Standard Media Index said.

“The TV ad market in April was impacted by a perfect storm of events, with millions of Americans going on unemployment, stay-at-home orders hurting a number of advertising categories, the loss of top rated live sporting events and studios shutting down their production facilities. There has never been such a calamity occurring all at the same time,” said James Fennessy, CEO of SMI. “It’s not surprising at all that virtually every broadcast and cable network was so negatively impacted.”

Broadcast ad revenue for April was $907 million, down 33.4%, according to SMI’s AccuTV. Revenue for cable was down 24.8% to $1.66 billion. Syndication showed a 12.1% decrease to $140.2 million.

The weakness of the market was reflected in the scatter market, where spending dropped 36%.

With the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament canceled, the NBA and NHL halted and the beginning of baseball season postponed, ad spending on TV sports plunged 72%. SMI estimates the loss of the NBA cost Disney’s ESPN and AT&T’s Turner Sports $240 million in revenue. College basketball vanishing cost ViacomCBS and AT&T $200 million, while the loss of the NHL cost Comcast’s NBC Sports $40 million and missing golf including The Masters, was a $30 million hit for the networks. Baseball sidelined $25 million.

Ad revenue generated by entertainment shows on the broadcast networks was down 21.6%, with some individual shows down as much as 50%. Fox’s The Masked Singer pulled in $26 million, making it the top show for the month.  

On cable, entertainment programming drew 17.4 million less in ad revenue than a year ago. 

Broadcast TV news programs attracted 5.5% more ad revenue as ratings rose during the pandemic. CBS had the biggest gain in news, with revenue up 20%, driven by a 27% increase for CBS This Morning. ABC was up 5% and NBC gained 3%.

Despite big increases in viewership, ad revenue for news on cable TV was down 1.6% in April. Fox News posted a 65% increase for its weekday primetime lineup.

“Before the pandemic the ad marketplace had been strong, with the expected return of live sporting events, innovative programming strategies and stay-at-home orders slowly being lifted by states, we can expect the national TV ad marketplace to slowly but surely rebound in the months ahead,” Fennessy said.

SMI gets its data from the actual invoices processed by media buying groups accounting for about 70% of all agency spending. SMI’s AccuTV models for the remaining 30% of the market.

Television ad spending was down 40.9% to $1.4 billion as the COVID-19 pandemic throttled business, particularly sports, according to research company Standard Media Index.

SMI said that local advertising was most affected. Spot TV dropped 58.8% to $101.2 million and local cable plunged 75.5% to $22.3 million.

National broadcast TV was down 37.5% to $425.4 million and national cable fell 39% to $656.9 million.

Digital advertising was less affected, with total digital advertising down 22.5$ to $1.4 billion and digital video down 22.9% to $278.9 million

Sports was a big factor in the April  numbers as the NBA and NHL stopped playing, Major League Baseball never started and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament was cancelled.

Sports programming ad revenue was down 72.1% to $93.7 million, compared to non-sports programming, which was down 30.2% to $1.14 billion.

Disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, advertisers canceled 15% to 25% of the third-quarter advertising time bought during the 2019-20 upfront, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Ad sales executives said the cancellations were “not as bad as expected,” after the according to Standard Media Index.

Advertisers ordered $21.9 million worth of television ads during the 2019 upfront. The networks sell a full year’s worth of commercials “upfront” and guarantee they will deliver a certain number of viewers. As part of the deal, the advertisers are given an option to cancel as much as 50% of their orders in the third quarter.

The coronavirus began impacting business in March, just past the deadline for advertisers to cancel second-quarter commercials bought during the upfront. The deadline for canceling third quarter upfront buys was May 1, but the networks extended those deadlines, hoping that the economy would open up, increasing the demand for advertising and reducing the inclination to cancel.

Advertisers who canceled their orders could later turn around and try to buy commercials in the scatter market.

“They're saying ‘we want control of this money,’” said one sales executive, even if advertisers know they might have to come back and buy the same ads back later.

The executive said the scatter market had been getting stronger along with the stock market and cancellations were slowing down at the the networks.

“They want control over how to reallocate their spending,” the executive said. “The only argument against taking options is the possibility of paying a CPM penalty” if prices in the scatter market are above the pricing in the upfront deals they canceled.

In order to keep prices up, networks can opt to use unsold inventory to satisfy make goods rather than put them in a soft market and accept below upfront rates.

“We’re going to come into the third quarter with almost no liability [for ratings shortfalls]," the executive said.

The COVID-19 pandemic chopped ad spending by 35% in April and traditional media companies suffered the brunt of the damage, according to research company Standard Media Index.

All of the major media companies took double-digit drops from a year ago, with AT&T’s WarnerMedia registering the biggest drop of 50.8% as its cable networks lost the NBA and NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (Turner Sports had the Final Four and the championship game this year) to the virus.

Sports was also a factor as Fox’s ad revenues were down 46% and ViacomCBS shed 42.8%.

The Walt Disney Co., which owns ESPN, dropped 33.3%. Comcast's NBCUniversal, which carries the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs, was down 33%.

“April 2020 marks the first full month of an economic slowdown, the first in over ten years. The results, however, have been the same with previous recessions, with marketers cutting back on their advertising commitment,” said James Fennessy, CEO of SMI. “Of course, the absence of live premiere sporting events has also been a major factor to the unparalleled decline in ad dollars”.

Discovery, which doesn't rely on sports in the U.S., saw its ad revenues decrease by 29.8%. SMI said Discovery’s decline was an indication that advertisers were slashing TV budgets across all programming genres.

The digital giants -- Facebook and Google -- were down, but suffered less than the traditional media companies. Facebook fell 25.1% Google lost 23.6%.

In April, digital’s share of ad spending was 47% in April, up from 43% in the first quarter.

“With stay-at-home consumers watching more online content, it’s not surprising that in April, advertisers allocated a greater percentage of dollars in digital media,” Fennessy said.

Similarly, the smaller impact on digital spending let Google leapfrog over Disney to become No. 1 in terms of share of the advertising market at 12%, up 1.7%. Disney was No. 2 with a 11% share, followed by Comcast and ViacomCBS at 10%, Facebook at 6%, WarnerMedia at 5%, Discovery at 4% and Fox with 3%. The remaining 40% share was divided up among smaller media companies.

Disney and Comcast had the biggest share of video advertising, each with a 19% share. The top eight companies had 83% of video ad revenue. Traditional media accounted for 36% of all ad dollars compared to a 20% share for digital video.

SMI also said that 11 of the 12 product categories it measures registered double digit declines in ad spending. The pharmaceutical category was the only one to show an increase, up 4%.

The industries most affected by stay-at-home orders showed big drops. Travel advertising plummeted 89%, restaurants slid 52% and retail dropped 51%.

Automotive spending dropped 64%, and tech company hacked ad spending by 26%. 

“We can expect to see these declines across virtually every product category for the next few months. As with previous recessions, ad spending will improve, once unemployment drops and consumers feel confident about the economy,” Fennessy said.  “As the pandemic and recession continue, SMI will closely monitor the ad revenue impact it is causing with media companies and the ad spending.” 

SMI gets its data from the invoices sent by media companies to the most of the largest media buying groups.

The 2017-18 upfront TV market was a strong one, with gross media spending on broadcast up 2% and cable up 1%, according to new figures from Standard Media Index.

Accounting for the upfront is an imprecise science, with media buyers and network sellers jockeying for position. Few reliable numbers are available.

Now with the 2017-18 broadcast year ended, and the new season begun, Standard Media Index, which gets its figures from the buying computers at most of the big media agencies, offers a revealing look at how much was spent on commercial time and when it was purchased.

SMI said spending on cable TV in the 2017-18 upfront was $18.2 billion, up 1% from the 2016-17 upfront.

For the broadcasters, $13.7 billion in media was purchased in the upfront, up 2%

SMI says advertisers bought $4.2 billion of broadcast advertising in the scatter market, down 3% from the previous year and $7.9 billion worth of cable advertising, up 1%.

The figures are considerably bigger than the ones most often reported by the media and by securities analysts. For example, Media Dynamics reported last July that upfront spending for broadcast was up 4.1% to $9.1 billion and cable was up 7.6% to $10.6 billion.

SMI says its figures are higher because they include all dayparts and sports on broadcast and 150 cable networks.

The upfront market for the 2018-19 season was also reported to be a strong one. Media Dynamics pegged broadcast growing 5.8% and cable adding 4.7% for a 5.2% total increase in spending commitments.

National TV ad revenue rose 2.5% in July, thanks largely to gains in sports on cable, according to new figures from research company Standard Media Index.

Cable news and broadcast primetime entertainment also posted increases.

Cable networks registered a 3.7% rise in ad revenue with sports programming up 30% in July. Broadcast ad revenue was up 0.3%

Much of the cable gain came from the Wimbledon tennis tournament, which aired on ESPN and ESPN2 entirely in July. Last year, four days of Wimbledon were played in June. ESPN also aired the X Games in July after they were played in June last year. The network got a bump from a 12% increase in commercial unit prices on its sports talk shows.

Related: ESPN Fits Mobile App With ‘Watch’ Tab

Cable news networks were also strong, with an 11% increase across Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC. Of those, MSNBC saw the largest gain, up 33%, followed by CNN (up 10%) and FNC (up 5%).

Spending on broadcast sports was down 13% compared witha year ago, when the Olympic trials brought more than $20 million in spending to NBC. The broadcasters were also hurt by the PGA Championship returning to August; it was moved to July last year because of the Olympics.

Related: NBC Sports Rebrands Comcast RSNs

Overall ad spending in July rose 12%.

Digital returned to strong growth with an 18% gain. But SMI said one large advertiser, Unilever, which announced it will shift spending from digital to TV, spent 15% more on cable and broadcast than a year ago.

Digital video grew 12%, with premium video showing big gains. Hulu was up 37%, while YouTube was down 15%. Some advertisers have pulled advertising from YouTube because of concern ads might run alongside inappropriate content. TV network digital was up 11%.

“Despite national TV ratings challenges, the ad market opened the second half of the year with a real bang,” said James Fennessy, CEO of Standard Media Index. “Social and premium video remain the powerhouses of the digital sector.”

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

TV advertising dropped 9% in October, with cable's rate of decline below the medium's overall fall.

According to data from Standard Media Index, spending on cable decreased in 7% in October, versus a 9% downturn for the broadcast networks.

“SMI’s latest data shows advertisers held back dollars in October which caused a decline across the market, driven by a slow start to the new TV season. We anticipate that falling commodity prices will flow through to more money in consumers’ pockets in the coming months and ad dollars will begin to follow,” said James Fennessy, chief commercial officer at SMI.

With a weak upfront selling season, scatter has become a bigger part of the television ad business. For broadcasters, 16% of their revenue came from ads sold in scatter—close to air date—versus 11% in October 2013. For its part, cable saw scatter account for 23% of revenue, up from 17% in 2013.

The declines came despite gains in the media, consumer electronics and pharmaceuticals categories.

Total ad spending in October was down 4% from a year ago, even as digital continued to grow. Programmatic digital was up 49% last month, while mobile grew 22%, video rose19%, display increased 17% and search expanded 16%.

Through the first 10 months of 2014, digital was ahead 11%

SMI gets it revenue data directly from the computer systems at media agencies representing about 80% of total spending.