/ 02.24.2010 12:00AM
U.S. Ad Spending Declined 9 Percent in 2009
NEW YORK: U.S. ad spending fell 9 percent last year, according
to preliminary figures released today by Nielsen. Spending fell an estimated
$11.6 billion to a total of $117 billion last year. The figures represent a
trend of at least six straight quarters of decline in the ad industry, but it’s
a trend that shows evidence of slowing down. In the previous two quarters, Nielsen
reported declines of 15.4 and 11.5 percent.
“Fourth quarter ad spending was down just 2 percent year-over-year, and that
helped soften the full-year decline,” said Terrie Brennan, senior vice
president for new business development at Nielsen. “In fact, most of the top
advertisers showed increased spending late in the year. These are encouraging
signs for an ad market that’s still trying to stop the bleeding.”
Of product categories, Automotive led the decline with a 23.4 percent reduction
in year-over-year spending. Factory and dealers associations spent $10.5
billion in 2008 compared to just over $8 billion in 2009. Local car dealerships
spent $3.23 billion, down 23 percent from nearly $4.2 billion in 2008.
2009-to-2008 Change in Ad Spending by Media:
Spanish Language Cable TV 32.2%
Cable TV
14.8%
FSI Coupon
11.5%
Internet** 0.1%
Spanish Language Network TV -3.9%
National Sunday Supplement -7.2%
Spot Radio
-8.7%
Network Radio -9.7%
Network TV
-9.9%
Local Newspaper
-10.4%
Outdoor
-11.2%
National Newspaper
-13.7%
Spot TV 101-210 -14.2%
Syndicated TV
-14.7%
Spot TV Top 100
-16.1%
National Magazine
-19.3%
Local Magazine
-23.9%
B2B
-32.7%
Local Sunday Supplement -44.9%
Total
-9.0%