New reports are coming out that looked at total ad spend across a variety of areas, with a focus on television, and overall things are looking pretty good. The total national ad spend on TV ads grew at a rate of 3.2% in July, which brings it to a total of $2.46 billion. Digital revenue went up by 12%, with most of the growth coming from social media (40% growth), and ad exchanges (25% growth). Search media went down by 2%, which is the first time there has been a drop in this area. Magazines and radio each lost about 10% in their continued decline.
For television, much of the growth was with cable networks, which went up by 5.6%. Broadcast networks grew by just 1%. Cable news networks led the way due to the presidential election drawing in viewers, and many other stations such as the Food Network and Bravo bringing in lots of viewers. The pre-Olympic coverage also helped to boost ad revenue on both digital and for NBC.
Overall it was a good month for ad revenue, which is typically going to be good for marketers.