January 29th, 2010 4:04 pm

FTA ad revenue drops across the board

Metropolitan ad revenue of free-to-air networks dropped 5% in the six months to December last year, compared with the corresponding period in 2008, with all metro and regional areas dropping revenue.

FTA ad revenue drops across the board

Metropolitan ad revenue of free-to-air networks dropped 5% in the six months to December last year, compared with the corresponding period in 2008, with all metro and regional areas dropping revenue.

Total ad revenue for FTA, including regional areas, was down 4.4%, hitting $1.9bn. Of the metro areas, Sydney was worst hit, reporting an ad revenue slide of 7.2% at $525.5m, while Melbourne posted a drop of 4.6% at $399.4m. Brisbane was similarly hit at -4.5% and$ 246.5m. Adelaide and Perth were not hit as hard, percentage wise, with the former dropping 1% and the WA capital down 2% at $148.7m.

Seven had the lion’s share of ad revenue across all capital cities at 38.1%, over Nine with 31.91% and Ten with 30.08%.

Regional areas were down -2.2% overall, with Victoria showing the second greatest decline at -4.3% and $63.5m. New South Wales was down 0.2% at $194m. Queensland posted -3.5% and $108m. Western Australia was down the most at -6.7% and $22m. South Australia was down -2.4%, and Northern Territory/Tasmania slid 3%.

Source: B&T