U.S. Ad Spend Down 9 Percent in ’09

NEW YORK: Advertising spending fell by 9 percent in 2009 to $117 billion, according to The Nielsen Company, but the research firm notes that the rate of ad decline appears to be slowing.

Nielsen points to at least six straight quarters of ad erosion. However, Q4 2009 only recorded a 2-percent decline, versus 15.4 percent in the first half and 11.5 percent in the first three quarters. “Fourth-quarter ad spending was down just two percent year-over-year, and that helped soften the full-year decline,” said Terrie Brennan, the senior VP for new business development at The Nielsen Company. “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.”

Among the media categories that showed growth was Spanish-language cable TV, up 32.2 percent, and cable TV, up 14.8 percent. Spanish-language network TV was down 3.9 percent, and network TV down 9.9 percent.