Total expenditure was measured at $34.9bn, and every measured type of television experienced a spending increase during Q1. When the Winter Olympics’ contribution was discounted, the growth rate fell.

“The Winter Olympics delivered its expected windfall in the first quarter, adding about $600 million of incremental ad spending to the marketplace,” said Jon Swallen, chief research officer at Kantar Media North America.

“But the nature of the event is that this money is narrowly distributed and doesn’t benefit all sectors of the market. Subtracting the Olympics’ contribution, the growth rate for remaining expenditures was just under four percent.”

Full details can be found here.