U.S.
ad spending fell about 9% in 2009, with network television and syndication
taking a harder hit than many other media platforms, according to a study from
Nielsen released Feb. 24.
Overall spending was down 9%, from $128.6 billion in 2008 to $117 billion in
2009. Network television was down 9.9%, slightly below average, dropping from
$22 billion to $19.8 billion. Syndicated TV was down 14.7%, with spot TV in the
101-2010
markets down 14.2%, and the top 100 markets down 16.1%.
But the news was not all dour among the television businesses; cable TV and
Spanish-language cable TV bucked the trend, both up double digits over 2008.
Cable TV was up 14.8%, while Spanish-language cable was up a whopping 32.2%,
tops among all the media platforms Nielsen looked at.
"Fourth quarter ad spending was down just two percent year-over-year, and
that helped soften the full-year decline," said Terrie Brennan, senior VP
for new business development at The Nielsen Company, in announcing the study.
"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."
