TVB: Local TV Ad Revenues Down in Q2

Without the Olympic Games and political campaigns to boost coffers, local broadcast ad revenue was down 6.6% for the second quarter, said the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB), compared with the second quarter of last year.

Network TV was down 0.2% in the quarter and syndicated TV down 4.7%, according to the TVB, which worked with TNS Media Intelligence on the figures.

For the first half of 2007, local TV was down 4.8%, syndicated TV was down 5.3% and network TV was down 3.5%. Those figures spelled out a total broadcast decline of 4.1%.

Among ad categories, automotive was down 10.2% from the same quarter a year ago, financial was down 17.2% and government and organizations was down 45.6%, although that number should skyrocket when the political battles start heating up for 2008.

On the plus side, telecommunications advertising was up 9.5%; schools, colleges and camps were up 7.5%; and travel, hotels and resorts jumped 13.1%.

TNS released its own first-half-2007 numbers Tuesday.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.