SMI reports May 2016 government ad spend distorting YOY ad comparisons

Australia's media agency May 2017 YOY comparison data is being badly impacted by the abnormally high government category advertising expenditure in the lead-up to last year’s federal election.

As a result, the market is reporting a 9.7% top line decline in ad spend to $589.5 million, but if the abnormal government category bookings were removed the underlying result is closer to a decline of 5%.

Also the June long weekend has reduced the time in which agencies can retrospectively pay for their May Digital campaigns, so a larger than usual number of late digital bookings are expected at month end, and that should bring the market back to a stable position.

As a result, this month SMI is yet to see growth in any major media, although that changes when government bookings are removed to highlight the underlying trend.

For example, total television ad spend grows by 0.9% year-on-year when government category spend is removed for both periods.