Australian pay-TV ad spend grows 15%

April’s ad figures were the strongest in six years with digital, radio and pay-TV all posting double-digit growth.

Despite recent a recent forecast from MagnaGlobal writing down the total ad spend for 2012, last month total was $569.8m, according to the Standard Media Index (SMI).

That number is a 2.2% increase on last year, with pay-TV showing 15% growth and free-to-air getting just a 1.2% boost.

Radio figures were also encouraging with a 12.8% jump, while online ads soared by 25.9%.

However, print again felt the pinch, with newspapers losing 14.5% of revenue and magazines dipping 5.6%

Peter Horgan, managing director of OMD, said the figures were to be expected given last April was particularly bad for the industry.

He added: “I think the underlying trends are still flat. I see this as being a month-on-month reblocking rather than a bell weather for a recovery.

“The market is still relatively soft and still very short term in bookings and client approvals. Budgets are being scrutinised very carefully before being signed off, which is having a knock-on effect to the market.”

But he said the surprise success of shows like The Voice would probably not have impacted as greatly on the improved TV figures, adding: “It’s not easy to monetise shows that perform higher than expected.

“It takes time for that to happen as new sponsors come in and people are willing to pay the higher rates, so I think it will have had minimal impact on April