USA 2Q ad sales see slight growth

Expenditures ticked up just 0.9%, reflecting weak consumer spending and job growth. Sports and politics gave television a bump. Newspapers slid further.

Second-quarter advertising expenditures in the U.S. grew just 0.9%, to $34.4 billion, compared to a year ago, according to a report released Monday by research firm Kantar Media. For the first half of the year, ad spending was up 1.9% to $67.1 billion.

The minimal growth reflected lower consumer spending amid weak job creation.

"When consumer spending gets better, ad spending will be right behind," said Jon Swallen, chief research officer at Kantar Media North America, in an interview.

Despite the overall tepid results, there were pockets of strength, most notably in television. Ad spending for Spanish language TV spiked 18% in the second quarter, reflecting the rising profile of Hispanic consumers and the recognition among marketers that networks like Univision and Telemundo are the best way to reach them.

Cable TV was up 4%, partly on the strength of sports, including the NBA playoffs on TNT. Political money, meanwhile, boosted the spot, or local, TV category, also by 4%. Network television growth was flat because the NCAA this year moved its Final Four basketball tournament to the first quarter, which hurt comparisons with the prior year.

Local radio was up 1%, helped by the return of automotive advertising.

Not all of the results were driven by economic forces: newspapers continued to lose their battle with the Web, with spending on national ads plunging 11% in the quarter. Local newspapers did better, with advertising, down just 2%. The magazine media category fell 3% overall.

Internet display advertising was another weak spot, slipping 5%. Kantar does not track search, Web video or mobile advertising, which have been areas of growth.

Mr. Swallen noted that display ads are the most mature form of Internet advertising and so the most prone to see erosion as money flows to video and mobile. More important, marketers have been questioning the effectiveness of online display ads, which many users ignore.

"It's not a leap to think some of those concerns may be translating into more conservative allocations of money," he said.

Even with a slow-growing economy, third quarter ad spending will show a pop from the Olympics, and the fourth quarter will get a boost from the elections.

"As we move past Labor Day and the last 60 days of the election cycle, spending will ratchet up on all fronts," Mr. Swallen said.

Correction: For the first half of the year, advertising expenditures in the U.S. were up 1.9% to $67.1 billion. The dollar amount was misstated in an earlier version of this article, published Sept. 10, 2