SMI: Ten’s revenue share rises as rivals tumble with newspapers down nearly 30 per cent
Network Ten was the big winner last month with its share of ad revenue from media agencies surging 3.2 per cent year-on-year as rivals Seven and Nine both slipped backwards.
The July Standard Media Index (SMI) numbers show Ten is edging back to a quarter share of free-to-air commercial TV ad spend with a 24.4 per cent share in July, after the network saw its ratings surge on the back of reality cooking franchise Masterchef.
Despite hosting the State of Origin, three Ashes cricket tests and strong rating franchises The Voice and The Hotplate the Nine Network fell 1.7 per cent year-on-year to 37.1 per cent.
Seven also slipped 1.7 per cent year-on-year to a 38.5 per cent share in a month where the overall market was down 1.5 per cent ($8.9m) to $601m.
Newspapers were again the hardest hit medium with media agency spend plummeting 29.4 per cent to $47.2m, $19.6m less than they took in July 2014.
Digital is recorded as rising 6.7 per cent to a $123.5m in spend, however late digital bookings are expected to ensure the paid media market for July is flat when the final tallies are in.
Metropolitan television, radio and cinema all began the financial year in the black, while magazines and outdoor joined newspapers in posting double digital declines.
Television was up 3.2 per cent to $301.3m, while radio was up 0.4 per cent to $47.2m. Cinema climbed a staggering 43.6 per cent courtesy of a series of blockbusters launched in the July school holidays, with increasing $1.7m to $5.8m.
Outdoor fell 10.1 per cent to $53.3m while magazines reported a decline in spend of 16.9 per cent to $15.1m. Both of those mediums, as well as newspapers, take a portion of their revenues through direct sales rather than agencies.
From a category perspective were Food/Alcoholic Retail spending rebounded, up 33.5 per cent to $32.2m after reporting large declines in ad spend in the last financial year.
The Restaurants category also improved year on year with their bookings up 16.6 per cent in July to $28.6m.
Nic Christensen
