US TV advertising slumps in July


Details

Michelle Clancy

| 20 August 2015





Cable TV advertising saw an ever-so-slight increase of 1% in July, even as overall TV ad spending was up 7% compared to the previous year.


According to Standard Media Index, the bump was largely thanks to a strong showing by MTV and the Discovery Channel.

James Fennessy, chief commercial officer for SMI, told Broadcasting & Cable that many cable networks are suffering double-digit ratings declines over the summer, even as a hardy few are turning in stellar results. It has all balanced out to the 1% growth.

SMI also reported that broadcast advertising was down 2% in July, despite the success of the Women's World Cup, Special Olympics and the ESPY Awards.

Nielsen said that overall TV viewership — for both broadcast and cable channels — dropped 3% this summer compared with the same period last year, averaging just 94.7 million viewers. That's also down 6% from the summer of 2013.

August may see a turnaround; Nielsen noted that the recent Republican presidential primary debate was the highest rated non-sports cable telecast of all time. FOX News saw more than 24 million viewers for the night