MagnaGlobal: TV & Online Remain Growth Drivers Amid Slow Ad Recovery

NEW YORK: MagnaGlobal has revised its U.S. Media Owners Advertising Revenue Forecast, now predicting 2.9 percent growth next year, down from an earlier forecast of 4.8 percent growth.

The 2011 forecast remains unchanged at 1.6 percent growth, still predicting media suppliers to generate $173.5 billion in ad revenues this year. MagnaGlobal says that the slowdown in personal consumption expenditures, manufacturing activity and persistent problems in the labor and housing markets have caused it to downgrade its 2012 growth forecasts. The company expects “slow-but-positive recovery” for next year. It forecasts revenues to reach $178.5 billion in 2012, which is less than the pre-recession level of $206.1 billion in 2007.

TV ad revenue is expected to increase 7.1 percent, benefiting from the “quadrennial bonanza.” The 2012 elections and the Summer Olympics are predicted to generate incremental revenue of $3.1 billion for television, with $2.5 billion in political advertising, which MagnaGlobal says is “the highest spending ever, mostly on local broadcast television.” Estimates also call for $633 million in spending on the London Olympics, a gain of 5.5 percent compared with the Beijing games in 2008.