• by Wayne Friedman , May 30, 2014

The U.S. advertising market will continue to have a strong year -- thanks to strong first-quarter gains, especially from NBC’s Sochi Olympics.

MoffettNathanson Research maintains its estimate for the U.S. ad market, climbing 6.2% this year to $149.4 billion. Internet display and search advertising will grow 15%, with total TV spending -- the biggest ad spending revenue platform, with about a 50% share -- 6.6% higher.

All this came from an overall U.S. advertising market that rose 12% in the first three months of the year, with a big 22% increase in digital spending. Even taking out digital spending, traditional ad spending did well -- up 7.8% in the period.

The first quarter of 2014 was the fastest-growing period for traditional ad spending since the third quarter of 2012  -- which, MoffettNathanson also notes, included an Olympics.

NBC television network and its stations added on 21% during the period -- some $850 in Olympic advertising. Overall, broadcast networks witnessed a 26.5% increase in the first quarter of 2014.

This year, local TV stations look to gain the most among all TV platforms -- 10%, up from a 6% decline in 2013. Still, 2014 will take a back seat to the 17.5% hike that TV stations added on in 2012 -- which was a big political and Olympic advertising season.

Looking ahead, the research company expects a lower growth year in 2015, without Olympics and political ad revenues -- up 3.2% to $158.4 billion. The best-performing group next year will be Internet display/search, forecast for 12% growth. TV will eke out a small 0.5% improvement with national cable networks up 5% --- the best of any TV platform. The worst: TV stations, estimated to lose ground by 5%.

"Money arrow up" photo from Shutterstock.

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