The second quarter of 2002 saw US local TV achieve 4.4 percent advertising growth, lifting revenues for the first half-year by 3.5% above the same period in 2001.

According to the Television Bureau of Advertising, the largest increase by a single advertiser within the 25 top spenders was posted by General Motors – up year-on-year by 292%. Other notable increases included Procter & Gamble (+78.8%), SBC Communications (+57.7%) and Ford Motor Company (+21.7%).

The Bureau’s data, based on estimates from CMR MediaWatch, monitors the largest seventy-five markets. Among these sectors, Financial was prominent with a gain of 23.6%. other significant increases were seen in Toiletries/Cosmetics (+21.9%), Car/Truck dealers (20.0%), Insurance/Real Estate (18.8%) and Government/ Organizations (14.7%).

Data sourced from: MediaWeek.com (USA); additional content by WARC staff