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Week-to-Week Pacing Changes
Q2 Core pace rallied this week, picking up 1.2 points, driven by June’s whopping 2.4-point increase.
Nearly every category improved in June, with only a modest 0.2-point decline seen in the South Atlantic region.
Week-to-Week Pacing Changes
Q3 Core pace picked up as well this week, adding 2.2 points, with growth across all three months.
What a week for June! The excitement around the NBA Finals was certainly a driver of the big pickup, with ABC affiliates adding more points than any other affiliation, but the growth was far more widespread than that. It’s not entirely clear what’s driving the rally, but we’re thrilled to see it. I’ve raised my estimate slightly, and if the month grows again next week, I may increase it by another half point.
I’m happy to report that Q3 is on the move as well, but between now and July 1st, pace is likely to remain volatile given the substantial amount of business still to come in this year and the comparisons to last year’s numbers. Many categories are pacing fairly well – at least by today’s lower standards – but I still expect some softening after the quarter breaks. And, of course, September in particular is likely to be hit hard by political displacement later in the quarter.
Despite this week’s growth in Q3, I remain a strong advocate for aggressive pricing in July, if not the first six weeks of the quarter. Far too many of our stations are sitting on significant open inventory in the first half of the quarter. If you’re expecting heavier political spending in the back half, the early part of the quarter is an excellent opportunity to encourage Core advertisers to spend more heavily.
Here are my forecasts for the week:
Q2 vs. 2025:
April: -13.6%
May: -12.7% – up 0.9 points from last week
June: -3.4% – up 0.6 points from last week
Q2 Total: -9.8% - up 0.7 points from last week
2026 vs. 2025:
Q1: -1.3%
Q2: -9.8% - up 0.7 points from last week
Q3: -11.9% - flat to last week
Q4: -14.7% - flat to last week
2026: -9.4% - up 0.4 points from last week
Published: 05-07-2026
Published: 05-28-2026
Published: 06-02-2026