Political spending came to the rescue in the quarter, soaring 640% from the previous year's quarter. Auto advertising also was a strong contributor. Matrix Solutions President D.J. Cavanaugh said: "We have seen steady year-over-year growth in automotive spending each quarter for the past few years."
MATRIX LOCAL TV SALES REPORT
2Q Spot Recap: Total +8.8%, Core +0.8%
With association auto spending falling into negative territory and telecommunications spending plummeting by nearly a third, broadcasters managed to post only a .8% year-over-year gain in core advertising sales in the second quarter of 2014, according to Matrix Solutions.
But as it does in every even-numbered year, political spending came to the rescue, boosting broadcasters’ total gain for the quarter to 8.8%. Political soared 640%.
Association auto (tier 2) was down 4.2% and telecommunications fell 27.8%, the Matrix data shows. Factory auto (tier 1) was also down 15.5%, but declines in that category has been a trend.
“If we look at spending around events, Q1 did have the Olympics and Q3 the World Cup,” said Matrix President D.J. Cavanaugh. “So, it is possible that spending was reserved to tie to such events that provide a true multiplatform viewing opportunity for advertisers. “
Matrix is a Pittsburgh-based supplier of customer relations and sales management software. Its quarterly local TV sales report, exclusive to TVNewsCheck, is based on sales data from more than 400 client TV stations. It includes revenue from station-specific websites and digital subchannels.
Offsetting the declines in factory and association auto was a big increase in dealer auto (tier 3). It was up 29.3%.
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“Overall automotive spending increased by 6.7%,” Cavanaugh said. “We have seen steady year-over-year growth in automotive spending each quarter for the past few years.”
Other bright spots were education (up 25.6%), services (+19.2%), home stores (+7.4%), products (+7.4%) and grocery stores (+7.2%).
Broadcast TV Sales, 2Q Comparisons
| Category Group | 2014 vs. 2013 | 2014 vs. 2012 | 2014 vs. 2011 |
| Alcoholic Beverages | +6.5% | -22.9% | -23% |
| Auto Total | +6.7% | +14.4% | +48% |
| Auto — Tier 1 | -15.5% | -24.3% | -1.6% |
| Auto — Tier 2 | -4.2% | +7.7% | +70.6% |
| Auto — Tier 3 | +29.3% | +46.2% | +60.2% |
| Department Stores | -7.7% | -10.2% | -34.0% |
| Education | +25.6% | +12.9% | +21.2% |
| Financial, Insurance, Real Estate | -5.9% | -8.1% | +2.0% |
| Food | +0.8% | +0.9% | -4.3% |
| Furniture | -5.6% | +0.2% | +4.7% |
| Government & Organizations | -25.0% | -31.0% | -6.4% |
| Health Care | 0.0% | -4.5% | -1.1% |
| Home Stores & Products | +7.4% | +22.8% | +24.2% |
| Legal Services | -4.9% | -2.9% | -1.3% |
| Leisure & Entertainment | +1.9% | +6.1% | +6.1% |
| Media | -3.9% | -3.3% | -5.6% |
| Non-Alcoholic Beverages | -18.8% | +2.7% | -38.0% |
| Political | +640.7% | -16.7% | +428.4% |
| Products | +7.4% | -27.7% | -33.2% |
| Restaurants — All | -1.6% | -5.0% | -10.7% |
| Restaurants — Quick Serve | -1.0% | -3.7% | -10.5% |
| Restaurants — Dining | -4.1% | -10.1% | -11.4% |
| Retail | +3.2% | -2.7% | -6.5% |
| Services | +19.2% | +15.7% | +26.8% |
| Supermarkets/Grocery | +7.2% | +8.6% | +17.7% |
| Telecommunications | -27.8% | -3.2% | -19.5% |
| Travel | -0.4% | -6.8% | +9.3% |
| GRAND TOTAL | +8.8% | +0.9% | +17.5% |
| EXCLUDING POLITICAL | +0.8% | +3.0% | +9.6% |
| Source: Matrix Solutions |
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