Ad revenue slumps at USA TV networks

We’re certainly a little biased considering we’re in the online advertising business. But with the latest TV advertising data released in the USA, it’s virtually undeniable that big ad spending patterns are moving away from TV. And quickly.

For anyone who missed the data, here’s the key points again:

• For the Sep 2005 quarter, ad revenue for the USA’s three biggest free-to-air TV networks slumped 21.5% (US $605 million). The Athens Olympics had of course boosted the Sep ‘04 quarter.
  
• Interestingly though, for the same quarterly period, online ad spends increased 69.8%.
• And again for the same period, revenue from online video ads jumped over 60%.

What does it all mean? Basically, marketing managers are starting to follow media users’ consumption patterns by shifting more of their budgets away from traditional TV networks. Much of the spend is being moved across to more accountable ad types, such as online and search.

This, of course, is US advertising data. But roughly speaking, similar patterns are occurring around the world. It should sound a small warning bell for TV execs worldwide.