A quick scan through a summary of BIA/Kelsey’s Media Ad View Plus unearthed a number of fun, interesting factoids about the local media ecosystem. Media Ad View is BIA/Kelsey’s research product that offers a market by market view of the local media pie. If you want to find out what percentage of SMBs in Omaha buy mobile display advertising, Media Ad View Plus is the place to turn.

A quick scan of the Media Ad View Plus national summary unearthed a wealth of data points that range from surprising to illuminating. Here is a random sample of some gems we’ve culled from the summary:

* Local retailers invest heavily in direct mail, spending $10.7 billion in 2012, giving direct mail a 43% share of total retail advertising.
* Newspapers still bring in the big bucks, despite a long-running decline in circulation. In 2012, newspapers generated $22.5 billion for a 17.1% share of total advertising spend, trailing only direct mail.
* Six vertical categories each generated more than $1 billion from online advertising in 2012 — technology, retail, automotive, leisure/recreational, financial/insurance and restaurants. These six categories accounted for roughly 80 percent of total online advertising.
* Print Yellow Pages is another medium seen by many as obsolete, or becoming so. Yet the medium still dominates the local general services category (basically anyone who shows up at your house in a van). In 2012, general services advertisers spent $3.8 billion on print Yellow Pages, resenting nearly a quarter of total spend in that category.
* Local radio is among the most diverse media categories,generating more than 10% of its revenue from five different categories. Retail, financial/insurance, restaurants, automotive and technology combine to represent roughly three quarters of local radio advertising revenue.

Keep an eye on the Local Media Watch blog more more nuggets of local media data from Media Ad View Plus and other sources.