U.S. Adspend Up 0.8 Percent in 2011

NEW YORK: The total advertising spending in the U.S. increased 0.8 percent last year, finishing 2011 at $144 billion, according to new data from Kantar Media.

Aspend in Q4 dropped 1 percent compared to the prior year period, marking the first quarterly decline since the end of 2009. Television continued to lead the ad market in the fourth quarter. Network TV spending grew 7.7 percent year-on-year, boosted by the baseball World Series and the launch of The X Factor. Cable TV finished the quarter up 2.4 percent. For the full year, network TV fell by 2 percent while cable increased 7.7 percent. Spanish-language TV adspend soared 19.1 percent in Q4, and for the full year increased 8.3 percent. Syndicated TV had an 11-percent gain in the fourth quarter and a 15.4-percent gain for the full year. Spot TV expenditures was down 8.7 percent for Q4, with full-year figures dropping 4.5 percent.

“The contrast of resilient TV spending and waning budget allocations to other traditional media was plainly evident at the end of 2011,” said Jon Swallen, the senior VP of research at Kantar Media Intelligence North America. “Some mature digital media formats were also touched by the year-end tide of reduced spending. Whether this is an isolated occurrence or an early sign of digital dollars moving more quickly towards emerging and unmeasured digital platforms bears watching as 2012 unfolds.”