MediaLife

Mobile advertising is taking off around the world, fueled by the growth of smartphone adoption and more affordable data plans.

Ad spending nearly doubled in 2013, and it will continue the big gains in 2014, though there are some major shifts coming to the medium.

Global mobile advertising revenue increased by 92 percent in 2013, to $19.3 billion, according to a new report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, IAB Europe and IHS Technology. That’s up from just over $10 billion in 2012.

New shows have struggled and returning shows have seen ratings slide this summer. That’s led to a 10 percent adults 18-49 ratings decline among the top seven broadcast networks.

All but one network, the CW, are down from last summer, and the Big Four have combined for a 13 percent dip. Together, ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, the CW, Univision and Telemundo have averaged a 7.1 rating this summer, according to Nielsen, compared to a 7.9 at the same point in 2013.

The Big Four have combined for a 4.9, off from a 5.6 this time last summer.

Newspaper circulation isn’t what it used to be. And neither are the tools used to measure it.

The latest batch of circulation numbers from the Alliance for Audited Media came out, and it’s difficult to cull any significant meaning from them because of all the changes that have been made to the means by which circulation is measured.

Many of the changes reflect the new way people read papers, both in print and digitally. But they also provide some loopholes that help certain papers claim big circulation gains that, when you look more closely at them, don’t always hold up.

The most significant example during the six months ended March 31, the data comes from USA Today. The paper saw an incredible 94 percent gain in Monday through Friday circulation, to 3,255,157. But that surge includes 668,054 branded editions, which AAM defines as a publication that publishes at least weekly, publishes on the same paper stock as the newspaper, contains editorial content and represents itself as a newspaper. Branded editions might include a weekly Spanish-language edition or a coupon supplement.

In USA Today’s case, it’s a condensed edition of the paper, dubbed a butterfly edition, that’s distributed in dozens of Gannett publications across the country each day. USA Today’s gains also include more digital non-replica editions, or users of the paper’s apps.

The New York Times saw big gains during the March 31 reporting period as well, also thanks to branded editions. Its Monday through Friday circulation jumped 15 percent, but again, it included 126,162 branded editions for the first time. The Times counted the international edition of the paper as a branded edition in its figures. Still, even without the branded editions, circulation would be up 8 percent, with digital accounting for the bulk of those gains.

Indeed, nearly every paper that reported improvements during the reporting period got them from a bump in branded editions.

A hotly contested Texas governor’s race is sparking big political ad spending in Dallas, where local media buyers say TV and radio inventories area already tight.

Attorney General Greg Abbott (R-TX) and State Senator Wendy Davis (D-District 10) will face off in November for the governor’s seat, after each won their primary elections on March 4. There will be a huge amount of spending leading up to the fall election, just as there was before the primaries.

In 2018, digital’s share of US ad spending will surpass television’s, albeit by a very small margin, 36.4 percent to 36.1 percent, according to a forecast from eMarketer.

Though TV will continue to draw a large number of ad dollars, digital will have the edge as new technologies command more and more of people’s time. “The outlook for the fairly distant future is, by definition, speculative, but there are a variety of factors that will affect the allocation of advertising budgets in the coming years,” says the report.

After hitting a high of 39.1 percent of all US ad spending in 2012, TV’s share will fall steadily over the next four years, down from 38.1 percent in 2014. By contrast, digital will grow steadily over that period. It’s expected to hit 27.9 percent in 2014. Between 2014 and 2018, its share will grow by another 30 percent.

What’s most notable about that growth is how much money will be funneled to mobile in the coming years. In 2012, mobile made up just 2.6 percent of all US ad spending. By 2018, it will account for 24.9 percent, or nearly $1 of every $4 spent. It will make up more than two-thirds of all digital spending.