Some good news for local TV (news)

Analysis of recent trends in advertising expenditures suggests that retailers are shifting more of their ad budgets to local TV and radio.  The analysis, from BIA Kelsey, predicts that  retailers will be putting a larger proportion of their advertising dollars into online marketing, as well as increasing the share of local TV, radio, and cable, over the next few years.  The added budgets will come at the expense of newspapers and direct response advertising, who should see declining shares.

  The greatest increase in share will be for online, which should see its current 13% share to 16% by 2016.  The report also indicates that local TV's share will grow from 7.9% this year to 8.4% in 2013; radio will increase from 10.2% to 10.6%; and local cable from 2.5% to 2.6%.  In contrast, the share of ad budgets for newspapers are expected to shrink by almost a fifth between now and the end of 2016 (from their current share of 19.5% to 15.5%).
  In addition, research from the proprietary 2012 College Marketing Report from Barnes & Noble's College Marketing Division indicates that for all the talk of Internet and social media, that college students consider TV to be the most influential and effective advertising medium.  The survey found that while Email was rated at the best way to reach them (20% cite Email, 19% cite TV ads), 42% of the sample felt that TV advertising was the most effective form of marketing, and input from friends was the most influential in terms of helping them make a buying decision.
  Meanwhile, TV trade group TVB will present research at its upcoming TVB Forward Conference that shows that local news program audiences remain significantly larger that the audiences for cable news networks.  Using May results from Nielsen, the report notes that the top five cable networks attract between 3% and 8% of TV viewers in top markets in the U.S., while the early evening and late night local news in top markets averages 38% for the prime 35-54 demographic, and rises to 62% among 55+ viewers.

Steve Lanzano, president of the TVB, states: "With the vast disparity in audience numbers, the significantly more attractive audience demographic and the broad gulf in credibility levels, it’s clear that in terms of reach and cost, advertising spending is maximized by purchasing spots during local broadcast news programming.”

The projections from BIA/Kelsey suggest that retailers have figured out where the value is.

Sources -  TV, Radio Ad Spend in Local Markets On Rise,  MediaDailyNews
Local News Trumps Cable in Viewer Numbers,  MediaDailyNews
TV Advertising to Students Most Effective; Email Best Reach,  Research Brief from the Center for Media Research