Dallas: Flush with foreign auto spending

Auto advertising often drives the media economy in Dallas, and that is true again this year.
 
The dollars have come largely from foreign makers who cut back or stopped advertising completely last year when the earthquake and tsunami in Japan halted production.
 
On the domestic side, spending remains healthy but it's lower than it was in 2011.
 
"What I understand is foreign auto is up significantly, and in comparison to last year domestic is slightly down in Dallas," says Kelly Campbell, broadcast buyer at Haworth Marketing + Media.
 
Auto is contributing to a Dallas TV market that has been flat to slightly up for most of the year, with increases of 10 percent expected in fourth quarter. Financial, telecom, healthcare and insurance are also active, while tourism and restaurants are the major categories that have seen declines.
 
The market is tightening with political spending and will remain squeezed through the election, but it's not due to the presidential race.
 
"The political spending will be candidate-driven from local and state [races]. Texas is not a big issue state nor a swing state," Campbell says. "Federal/presidential spending is expected to be minimal since the city and state are highly Republican."
 
With political perking up, the tightest dayparts at the moment are early morning, evening and late news, and daytime has tightened with healthcare and insurance advertisers.
 
The Dallas market is crazy about Cowboys football, and any programming surrounding NFL games is tight and highly rated.
 
Radio in Dallas has been flat this year and is expected to finish down by low-single-digit percentages. That said, radio inventory in the market fluctuates on a monthly basis.
 
"The middle weeks of every month are always tight," says Campbell. "And prime dayparts [morning and afternoon drives] are always tightest."
 
The news stations are not surprisingly getting the bulk of the political spending, tightening through the elections. CBS Radio's KRLD-AM and Cumulus' WBAP-AM tied as the top-rated news/talk stations in Dallas in August, each with a 2.4 portable people meter rating, according to Arbitron.
 
The top station in the market is Clear Channel current hits station KHKS-FM, which averaged a 7.3 PPM rating in August.
 
Dallas has a wide variety of radio formats that perform well, with adult contemporary, country, classic rock and Mexican regional stations all in the top 10.
 
While top stations may be tight for last-minute buys, spots are almost always available on the market's second- and third-tier stations.
 

Tags: ad spending, ad spending dallas, auto, auto spending, dallas, dallas ad spending, dayparts, FSS, healthcare, KDFW, KTVT, KXAS, local ad spending, market profile