TV Spending Gained 9.7% During First Quarter

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Ad spending on TV rose 9.7% in the first quarter, powered by the Olympic games, according to Kantar Media.

Primetime Olympic coverage on NBC lifted broadcast network TV spending by 14.5%. Higher spending on the Super Bowl and NFL playoffs also contributed to the hike.

Cable TV registered a 6.2% gain in the quarter, spot TV was up 7% and syndication showed a 3.2% increase.

Spanish language TV was up 18% in the quarter according to Kantar.

Overall spending in all media rose 5.7% to $34.9 billion, according to Kantar. Kantar estimated that the Olympics added $600 million in spending to the marketplace.

"The Winter Olympics delivered its expected windfall in the first quarter, adding about $600 million of incremental ad spending to the marketplace. But the nature of the event is that this money is narrowly distributed and doesn’t benefit all sectors of the market," Jon Swallen, chief research officer at Kantar Media North America, said in a statement. "Subtracting the Olympics’ contribution, the growth rate for remaining expenditures was just under four percent."

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.