Kantar Media has released its report on U.S. advertising dollars spent in the first quarter of 2012, with overall expenditures up by 2.6 percent from a year ago. Total ad spending at the end of Q1 was $32.9 billion. Radio ad spending was up by 0.8 percent in Q1, as local radio fell by 1.9 percent and national spot radio was off by 3.5 percent. Radio was bolstered by Network Radio, which saw a 22.9 percent gain in ad spending during the quarter.

"After a sluggish start in January, the pace of measured ad spending quickly accelerated and grew at an average rate of more than four percent during February and March, the best performance in more than a year," said Jon Swallen, Chief Research Officer at Kantar Media North America. "Early figures from the second quarter indicate continued modest growth with improvement trickling down to media that have been lagging the overall advertising market."

TV ad spending was up by 7.6 percent in Q1, while outdoor grew by 4.6 percent. Magazine, newspaper and Internet display ads all saw declines in the first quarter.