Spanish-Language TV, Internet Drive U.S. TV Adspend Growth

NEW YORK, March 14: According to TNS Media Intelligence,
total advertising spending in the U.S. in 2006 grew by 4.1 percent to $149.6
billion, driven in part by strong gains in the Spanish-language television and
Internet mediums.

Television adspend was up 5.3 percent to $65.4 billion.
Network TV showed just a 2.5 percent gain to $22.9 billion, while cable TV was
up 3.4 percent to $16.7 billion. Spanish-language TV grew 13.9 percent to $4.3
billion. Spot TV was up 10.4 percent to $17.2 billon. Internet advertising,
meanwhile, showed a 17.3 percent increase to $9.8 billion.

Television, however, still accounts for the lion’s share of
U.S. advertising, a 43.7 percent share, up slightly from last year’s 43.2
percent. Internet advertising’s share rose from 5.8 percent to 6.5 percent.

The top ten advertisers in 2006 spent a total of $18.73
billion, down 2.8 percent from the top ten last year. Procter & Gamble is
still the biggest spender on advertising, shelling out $3.3 billion, a 3.3
percent increase. General Motors remained in the second spot with $2.3 billion,
down 23.7 percent from last year. Telecommunications companies ramped up their
spending, with AT&T’s $2.2 billion, a 30.8 percent increase, and Verizon’s
$1.9 billion, a 10.4 percent increase. Time Warner’s ad spending fell 12
percent to $1.8 billion; Disney’s was flat at $1.4 billion; and News Corp.’s
fell 2.4 percent to $1.3 billion. Completing the top ten were Ford ($1.6
billion) and DaimlerChrysler ($1.4 billion).

As part of its report on branded entertainment, TNS found
that in the fourth quarter of 2006, an average hour of prime-time network
programming contained 5 minutes and 10 seconds (5:10) of in-show brand
appearances and 18:11 of commercial messages. That adds up to 23:21—39
percent of a prime time hour.

Unscripted shows had an average of 8:55 in brand
appearances, versus 2:34 for scripted content. This rose to 10:17 for
late-night talk shows.