U.S. Ad Spend Down in First Half of 2008

NEW
YORK, September 25: Total measured advertising expenditures in the first six
months of 2008 declined by 1.6 percent, compared to the same period in 2007,
according to TNS Media Intelligence.

Ad
spending during the second quarter of 2008 was off 3.7 percent versus last
year, the steepest quarterly drop since 2001.

“Advertising
expenditures started to contract in March, well before the September turbulence
on Wall Street renewed concerns about the health of the economy and possible
collateral damage to the ad market,” said Jon Swallen, the senior VP of
research at TNS Media

Intelligence.
“Second half results, particularly for television media, will be bolstered by
the Summer Olympics and political elections.

However,
sustained improvement will most likely depend on a turnaround in consumer
spending that rejuvenates corporate profits

and
encourages marketers to expand their advertising efforts.”

“While
expenditures are certainly indicative of the challenges being presented by the
economy, they also suggest the continuation of the long-term trend of marketing
dollars migrating to media such as the Internet, cable TV and syndication that
provide the ability to more effectively target specific audiences,” said Dean
DeBiase, the CEO of TNS Media. “With advertising budgets and CMOs under
pressure and uncertainties continuing to exist relative to consumer spending,
it appears marketers are placing an emphasis upon enhanced efficiencies for
their brands and the ability to engage with well defined audiences to ensure
ever greater return on investment.”

Every
one of the 19 media types measured by TNS posted weaker year-over-year
performance in the second quarter as compared to the

first
three months of 2008.

For
the first six months of the year, Internet display advertising expenditures
increased 8.0 percent as marketers continued to expand their online
programs. Outdoor ad spending
advanced by 1.8 percent.

Cable
TV advertising increased by 3.1 percent and Syndication TV was up by 10.2
percent. They were aided by limited exposure to the TV writer’s strike.

Spot
TV expenditures fell 4.4 percent as reductions in automotive, retail and
telecommunications advertising more than offset gains from political spending.
Network TV slipped 2.4 percent on weaker prime-time results. Newspaper media
was down 7.4 percent and Radio media dropped by 6.5 percent, and continued to
lag on further slowdowns in spending from the auto, financial, retail and
telecom categories.

—Anna Carugati