Analysis of data from the Standard Media Index (SMI), sourcing advertising spend data directly from major media holding agencies, indicates a soft January for television.
Investment bank UBS says the index data shows a soft January for metro TV and even softer for the Ten Network.
Metro TV bookings, excluding government, were down 9% year on year, according to the index.
“Nevertheless, based on SMI data, we think the TV market was likely adversely impacted by the simulcast of cricket on Foxtel, and weakness in the insurance gaming/tech/restaurants/travel sectors,” UBS analysts Eric Choi, Tom Beadle and Minnie Tong wrote in a note to clients.
The analysts note that Nine benefited from the tennis and Seven West Media from the Big Bash.
“This suggests the bulk of the metro TV decline was borne by Ten,” the note said.
Total bookings were down 16.9%, regional TV bookings dropped 12.2%, metro radio 1.4%, regional radio 15.5%, newspapers 13.1%, outdoor 8.5%, and digital 37.2%
The index data shows softness across all mediums, as this table from UBS shows:
Want more on SMI? See: Full year 2018 SMI findings
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