National TV ad spending rose 1% in October, according to the latest figures from Standard Media Index.
So far this year, national TV advertising is up 4%.
Broadcast TV was down 2% in October, while cable was up 3%.
SMI traced the decline in broadcast to a decrease in the spending on sports and news programming. Spending on broadcast sports was down 3%, while news was down 5%. The drop in sports came mostly from college football, because there were just four Saturdays in October this year, compared to five a year ago.
Related: Analyst: TV Ad Spending to Shrink "Meaningfully" In a Decade
A year ago, news spending and viewership were intensified by the election campaign, accounting for less viewers and spending this year. SMI says CBS was the only network to see an increase in news ad revenue and much of that was because of gains at CBS Sunday Morning and Face the Nation.
Three of the Big 4 broadcast network saw increase spending on the entertainment programming, with NBC jumping 14% on the strength of its Tuesday night lineup including The Voice, This Is Us and Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders. CBS gained 2% and ABC was up 1%. Fox was down 6%, with lower commercial prices on shows including Empire, Lethal Weapon and Lucifer. Fox also had a Rocky Horror Picture Show special a year ago.
Commercial rates for entertainment shows on the broadcast networks fell 4% to $111,700 on average.
On cable, news shows saw the biggest gain at 6%, with sports up 5% and entertainment increasing 3%.
Among top networks, AMC was up 20%, which shows advertising demand for The Walking Dead is strong despite lower ratings. Three Walking Dead specials also helped boost ad revenue.. HGTV was up 6%, USA Network was up 4%, ESPN was flat and TBS was down 2%.
The total ad market was up 7% in October.
Digital was up 11% and radio jumped 15%.
