TV advertisers in Russia are increasingly reallocating their budgets from national to regional broadcasters.
As a result, reports Kommersant, national TV ad purchasing fell by 8% in the first quarter, while that in Moscow rose by 12% and in other cities by 13%.
Industry sources believe the trend, which was also seen during the crisis years of 2008/9, will be repeated in the second quarter.
By focusing their efforts on regional TV services, advertisers are able to both reduce costs and target audiences more effectively.
Significantly, the figures also show that the worse of the downturn in Russia’s TV ad market may now be over.
On a national level, advertising inventory fell by 21% in January and 3% in February, while in March it rose by 1%, year-on-year.
