2008 TV Ad Revenue Figures

Local Broadcast Television Ad Revenues
Were Up 1.2% in 3rd Quarter

Strong political revenues overcame declines in other categories

New York, December 19, 2008 -- Local broadcast television ad revenues were up 1.2% in the third quarter of 2008 compared to the same period last year, reflecting strong political ad revenues, according to Susan Cuccinello, SVP of research for the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB), based on estimates supplied by TNS Media Intelligence in the top 100 markets.

Network TV was up 16.1% in the quarter and syndicated TV was up 6.6%; combining those components with local broadcast’s figures translates into a 9.0% gain for total broadcast television in the 3rd quarter.

For the first nine months of 2008, local broadcast TV was down 2.0%, syndicated TV was up 9.0%, and network TV was up 3.3%, producing a total broadcast TV gain of 1.9%.

Thirteen of the Top 25 advertising categories in local broadcast TV were down in the 3rd quarter, including the No. 1 all-important Automotive category. Focusing on the Top Ten categories, No. 1 Automotive was down 17.7%, No. 2 Telecommunications was up 10.0%, No. 3 Restaurants was up 3.3%, No. 4 Car & Truck Dealers was down 16.8%, No. 5 Political was up 1,056%, No. 6 Furniture was down 10.8%, No. 7 Financial was up 19.3%, No. 8 Insurance was down 0.4%, No. 9 Schools, Colleges & Camps was up 9.2%, No. 10 Government and Organizations was up 44.7%.

Eleven of local broadcast television’s top 25 individual advertisers were down in the quarter; fourteen were up; the Obama for President Committee represented a new category and came in at No. 13. Focusing on the Top Ten, No. 1 Chrysler-Cerberus was down 15.9%, No. 2 Honda Motor Co Ltd was up 33.0%, No. 3 Ford Motor Co Dealers Association was down 12.4%, No. 4 AT&T Inc. was down 14.6%, No. 5 General Motors Corp was up 43.6%, No. 6 Toyota Motor Corp Dealers Association was down 9.9%, No. 7 Nissan Motor Co Ltd was down 10.9%, No. 8 General Mills Inc. was up 65.8%, No. 9 Verizon Communications was up 7.9%, and No. 10 Comcast Corp was up 58.3%.


3rd QUARTER 2008 SUMMARY
       
($000)
  3rd Qtr 2008 3rd Qtr 2007 % Change
Local Broadcast TV* 4,336,996.0 4,285,959.5 1.2
Syndicated TV 1,101,120.4 1,032,742.5 6.6
Network TV 5,931,485.2 5,110,066.1 16.1
Total Broadcast TV 11,369,601.6 10,428,768.1 9.0
     
JAN-SEPT 2008 SUMMARY
Jan-Sept 2008 Jan-Sept 2007 % Change
Local Broadcast TV* 11,925,129.6 12,174,177.6 -2.0
Syndicated TV 3,301,801.5 3,030,526.5 9.0
Network TV 19,072,469.7 18,454,769.7 3.3
Total Broadcast TV 34,299,400.8 33,659,473.8 1.9
       
*Includes both local and national spot activity in the 100+ markets measured by TNS/MI.


View top 25 spot TV advertisers for 3rd quarter

View top 25 spot TV ad categories for 3rd quarter

View top 25 spot TV advertisers for Jan-Sept

View top 25 spot TV ad categories for Jan-Sept


Ask TVB Back to Top