Standard Media Index (SMI) Ad Spend Report
SMI pools aggregated Ad Spend data from a number of agency groups. SMI's proprietary methodology captures approximately 60 percent of total agency spend, offering timely, unparalleled visibility into global macro and micro market dynamics.
CAVEAT: With approximately 60 percent of total agency spend, SMI data does not capture 100 percent of US Ad Spend. However, it does provide strong directional data for measuring market trends, enabling clients to more quickly and accurately analyze their businesses and react to those changes.
February Digital ad revenue saw +22.4% YOY growth. For the first time in over a year, spend on Television eclipsed digital growth for the same period, at +28.4% mainly due to the 2014 Winter Olympics and Super Bowl XLIII.
Both SMI Digital and Television showed strong growth in key Product Categories for Jan/Feb 2014 YOY:
Automotive (+44.5% Digital growth; +61.7% Television growth)
Financial Services (+17.5% Digital growth; 41.5% Television growth)
Jan/Feb Broadcast TV ad revenue beat that of Cable TV YOY in the following SMI Product Categories:
Automotive (+28.8% cable growth; +94.4% broadcast growth)
Financial Services (+33.6% cable growth, +60.6% broadcast growth)
Pharmaceuticals (+18.9% cable growth, +47.9% broadcast growth)
The Product Categories that showed the most growth for 2014 CYTD were Toys & Video Games (+107.8% YOY) and Automotive (+51.9% YOY).
Jan/Feb Print data shows a -12.4% YOY decline, driven by a -19% drop in Newspaper ad spend and a -10.2% in Magazines for the first two months of 2014 YOY.
SMI Television Market
Broadcast TV:
Broadcast television ad spend grew +43.5% for February YOY and +30.5% YOY for the CYTD.
The growth in Television was heightened by the 2014 Winter Olympics (NBC) and Super Bowl XLVIII (Fox), which were held in February 2014.
Due to the Olympics, NBC grew +185.1% YOY for the CYTD, and +406.7% YOY for February, making it the share leader among the top Broadcast networks. NBC took the share leader position from CBS, which showed a -63.3% YOY decline for February.
The decline in ad spend for CBS can be attributed to its loss of the Super Bowl from 2013 to 2014. In 2013, CBS grew +99% over 2012 as a result of the big game.
Fox, which aired the Super Bowl this year, grew +216.8% YOY for February.
Cable TV:
Cable television posted +15% growth in February over 2013, and +13.3% YOY growth for the CYTD.
For the 2014 CYTD, 16 of the top 20 SMI Cable networks showed an increase in advertising spend, led by AMC (+52%), BET (+39.8%), and History (+34.3%).
In February, NBC Sports Network showed the highest YOY growth, with a +604.8% increase, thanks to the Olympics.
Other highlights for February 2014 YOY growth include increases in ad spend for A&E Network (+31.6%) and HGTV (+20.6%).
SMI Digital Market
SMI's Digital market continued to post double-digit monthly growth for February (+22.4% YOY).
The top Digital vendors showed YOY growth for Jan/Feb: Google (+9%), Yahoo! (+4%), AOL (+34%), and Twitter (+158%). Among the digital long tail, Kelley Blue Book showed +96.6% and Fandango.com showed +55.7% growth for the same period.
SMI Print Market
In Newspapers, The Wall Street Journal dropped -24.5% for the CYTD YOY and -13.8% YOY for February. This drove the -19% decline in overall Newspaper ad spend for the 2014 CYTD YOY.
USA Today and Los Angeles Times both showed YOY growth for the same period, with +17.9% and +37.9% respectively.
The Jan/Feb Magazine market showed -10.2% decline for the 2014 CYTD YOY.
Nine titles within the top 20 showed positive YOY growth for the CYTD, including Wired (+61.1%), The New York Times Magazine (+48.5%), and Marie Claire (+34.7%).
SMI Radio Market
Radio saw slight decline for February 2014 (-2.7% YOY).
Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, the share leader among SMI's top Radio owners, saw +1.1% growth for the CYTD and +3.5% growth for February 2014 YOY.
CBS Radio, with the second largest share, enjoyed a +5.6% YOY increase in ad spend for the 2014 CYTD, yet a -11.5% YOY decline for February.
