TVB: Stations Down in Q1
By Michael Malone and Robert Marich -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/23/2008
Local broadcast revenue was down 1.6% for the first quarter of 2008, compared to the same quarter a year before, reports the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB). Syndicated television posted an 11.2% revenue increase, and network television was up 1.7%. TVB analyzed TNS Media Intelligence/CMR data for the top 100 markets.
Local broadcast TV revenue was $3.97 billion, down from $4.04 billion in the same quarter of 2007. Total broadcast TV, comprising local, syndicated and network, came in at $11.92 billion, a 1.4% gain from last year.
Separately, Nielsen Monitor Plus reported that advertising in traditional media rose a meager 0.5% in the first quarter, with cable up 12.9% and broadcast network TV off 3.4%.
Earlier, TNS Media Intelligence weighed in with a 0.6% ad-growth estimate for the first quarter, but its cable-TV estimate was sharply lower at 4.1%. TNS included Web advertising while Nielsen Monitor-Plus did not.
