SMI: Record month for outdoor and radio masks weak results in other sectors

Ad spend in October was up 0.9% year-on-year, after a disappointing September in which it dropped by nearly 5%, with outdoor and radio reporting record revenues for the month.

Overall the market is up 1.4% year-to-date, according to the Standard Media Index’s latest figures which showed total media agency spend in October totalled $688.9m, with outdoor and radio leading the charge in growth with gains of 36.6% and 13.5% respectively.

According to SMI, these gains are due, at least in part, to timing with an extra Monday falling in October 2016 which resulted in an extra campaign loading period for outdoor and a higher-than-usual level of week-commencing campaigns for radio.