U.S. Ad Market Up 4.1 Percent

NEW YORK, September 7: Total advertising expenditures in the
U.S. in the first six months of this year increased 4.1 percent to $73 billion,
according to TNS Media Intelligence, with Spanish-language media posting significant
gains as a result of the World Cup.

Spanish-language media rose 20.5 percent to $2.4 billion.
Internet display advertising rose 18.9 percent to $4.69 billion for the
half-year. Network TV advertising, meanwhile, was up 5.7 percent to $12.28
billion. Cable TV advertising rose just 2.6 percent to $8.1 billion.

The top 10 advertisers in the first half of 2006 spent $9.29
billion, 0.6 percent less than the prior year period. Procter & Gamble
again topped that list with spending of $1.6 billion, up 8 percent versus last
year. Telecommunication companies posted strong gains, with AT&T up 32.9
percent to $1.18 billion and Verizon Communications up 13.3 percent to $948
million. General Motors pared its budgets by over $270 million in the second
quarter and finished the half-year at $1.29 billion, a 17.4 percent decrease.
Johnson & Johnson reduced its expenditures by 21.3 percent and has now cut
spending in four consecutive quarters. Declines were also registered at Time
Warner, down 13.5 percent to $857.1 million, Walt Disney, down 7.5 percent to
$684.8 million, and News Corp., down 8.1 percent to $634.3 million.

TNS also found that in the second quarter of 2006, an
average hour of prime-time network programming contained 2 minutes, 51 seconds
of in-show brand appearances and 18 minutes, 12 seconds of commercial messages.
In total, marketing content represented 35 percent of a prime-time hour.
Unscripted reality programming had an average of 7 minutes, four seconds per
hour of brand appearances as compared to just 1 minute, 41 seconds per hour for
scripted programming. Topping the list for time spent on brand appearances and
ad messages in the unscripted category was The Apprentice, followed by Celebrity Cooking Showdown and Fear Factor—all NBC shows. Rounding out the top five are FOX’s American
Idol and CBS’s Gameshow Marathon. For scripted programming, FOX’s Free Ride topped the list, followed by CBS’s King of
Queens, ABC’s Rodney, FOX’s War at Home and UPN’s Half and Half.