And in other news.....

JANUARY: CABLE BETTER THAN BROADCAST

Writing on the company blog,

Standard Media Index (SMI) Chief Commercial Officer James Fennessy says that digital spending jumped 30% in January, while TV got off to a slow start for the year. SMI calculates that digital now commands 27% of all national ad spend—up dramatically from only 19% share just two years ago. "A key driver of this growth is digital video, which has emerged as the fastest-expanding segment of the digital market, thanks to leading networks making more of their inventory available to consumers through their digital platforms," he said. Fennessey added that the trend is only set to accelerate as media owners focus on tapping into new audiences and the advertisers trying to reach them.

SMI’s figures show upfront spend

down in the mid-single digit range from this time last year, and while the scatter market is relatively strong, it is not yet making up for those lost upfront dollars. In January, the scatter market grew a healthy 39%, an upswing that helped the cable sector deliver 5% growth from the same period last year. The gain was primarily driven by ESPN, which grew 29% year-on-year, thanks to the ratings bonanza they experienced for the first ever college football playoffs. The biggest spender in scatter was the automotive sector, with advertisers spending over four times more than they did in January last year. Other key categories driving the scatter market were toys and telecommunications, both more than tripling their advertising spend.

On the broadcast TV front, things have not been too rosy. Overall, the sector fell 6% from the same period last year. Hispanic broadcasters bucked this trend, with Telemundo performing strongly and Univision also posting a solid increase on its 2014 numbers.