More major marketers say they have increased their television budget than are cutting them, according to a new survey by the Association of National Advertisers.
According to the survey, 47% of marketers said they increased their TV budgets since 2009, while 23% said their budget for TV decreased. Another 30% said their spending stayed the same.
Advertisers generally give TV advertising high marks for effectiveness, with 82% saying that the return on investment in television advertising has either increased or remained the same in the past two years.
Nevertheless, while TV is popular with advertisers, 60% said it faces stiff competition from other media.
To fund new media, more marketers -- 44% -- are creating incremental budgets, up from 37% in 2007. The number of marketers saying they are shifting funds from their existing media budget decreased to 44% from 63% in 2007.
Advertisers said they had concerns about TV, including 57% who said they thought fractured attention because of surfing the Internet and/or texting while watching could affect TV advertising effectiveness. Another 56% expressed worry about commercial avoidance by using DVRs.
A huge group of advertisers, 82%, said they were interested in getting ratings for individual commercials.
"There was much chatter in the past about the television medium and 30 second spot being dead, but this survey has shown that TV advertising is very much alive -- perhaps even more so than in the past," Bill Duggan, group executive VP of the ANA, said in a statement. "Even with the risk of competition from other media platforms and the use of DVRs, there are still many opportunities for marketers to optimize TV into their marketing mix."
This survey was conducted online by the ANA during July and August of 2011. In total, 135 client-side marketers responded. On average, respondents of this survey have 15 years of marketing experience.
