U.S. Adspend Fell 12 Percent in ’09

NEW YORK: Total advertising expenditures in the U.S. fell by 12.3 percent to $125.3 billion last year, reports Kantar Media, but the decline did slow towards the end of the year, with Q4 ad spending down just 6 percent on the year-ago period.

"The advertising recession began to ease in the final two months of 2009 and preliminary figures from the first quarter of 2010, when compared against the abyss of a year ago, indicate many sectors are experiencing growth,” said Jon Swallen, the senior VP of research at Kantar Media. “Given the restraint in consumer spending, it appears marketers have more confidence right now than their customers. As we get deeper into 2010, the pace of consumer activity will be a key determinant of the strength and durability of the advertising recovery.”

Kantar indicates that national TV continued to outperform the overall market, down 9.5 percent in the year as compared with 17.4 percent for magazines, 19.7 percent for newspapers, 20.3 percent for radio and 13.2 percent for outdoor. Network TV fell 7.6 percent but cable was down just 1.3 percent. Spanish-language TV, meanwhile, dropped 8.9 percent.

The number one advertiser was Procter & Gamble, with $2.7 billion, a 15.6 percent decline. The top ten advertisers spent $16.5 billion, relatively flat on their 2008 spend. The top ten also includes News Corp with $1.25 billion (down 10.6 percent) and Time Warner with $1.2 billion (6.8-percent decline).

Kantar also released new data on branded entertainment. In Q4, an average hour of prime-time network programming contained eight minutes, thirty six seconds (8:36) of in-show brand appearances and 14:05 of network commercial messages. The combined total of 22:41 of marketing content represents 38 percent of a prime-time hour. Unscripted reality programming had an average of 15:15 per hour of brand appearances, compared to just 5:26 per hour for scripted programs.