The Nielsen Company reported that U.S. advertising for the full year of 2008 was down 2.6% compared to the full year 2007. According to preliminary figures from Nielsen, U.S. ad expenditures declined almost $3.7 billion to a total spend of $136.8 billion in 2008.
Hispanic Cable TV (+9.6%) and Cable TV (+7.8%) were the only two media to show ad growth in 2008. Cable was the highest revenue-generating medium with $26.6 billion in sales. Spanish Language TV (network and cable) advertising continued to grow at a clip of 0.8%, while African-American TV fell 3.4%.
Print media continued its anticipated decline in 2008. Local and National Newspaper ad spends declined 10.2% and 9.6%, respectively. National Magazines fell 7.6%, while Local Magazines dropped 3.7%.
New media was also hit by the tough economic climate. Internet ad spends dropped 6.4% and Network TV took a 3.5% hit. Nevertheless, television continued to be the dominant medium for advertisers, with 60% of all ad dollars spent on Network, Cable, Hispanic, or Spot TV.
The top 10 advertisers spent a total of $15.5 billion in 2008 – 15% less than the year before. Not a single one of the top 10 advertisers spent more in 2008 vs. 2007. Procter & Gamble maintained its perch as the top advertiser this year, despite a 19% decline vs. 2007.
Originally posted on March 14, 2009 @ 9:41 am