Total measured ad expenditures in the first nine months of 2007 inched upwards by 0.2% to 108.2 billion as compared to the prior year period, according to data released by TNS Media Intelligence. Total measured spending during the Q3 ‘07 was up 1.3% vs. 2006, reversing declines from the first half of the year.
Internet display advertising continued to lead the market, increasing 17.2% to 8.4 billion in spend. Consumer magazines posted a 6.4% gain to 17.3 billion on flat ad page volume. Cable TV spending was up 4.7% to 12.7 billion and Outdoor advanced by 4.4% to 3.0 billion.
Broadcast TV media continued to experience weakness in Q3 and turned in nine month spending declines even as the volume of ad time sold increased slightly. Spot TV spend, facing progressively more difficult comps against record-setting levels of 2006 political advertising, tumbled 6.8% to 11.2 billion. Network TV was down 3.0% to 16.2 billion despite an increase in ad time. Syndication TV fell 4.6% to 3.0 billion.
Ad spend in Newspaper and Radio remained soft during Q3. For the YTD period, marketers lowered their Local Newspaper spend by 5.1% to 16.6 billion with a commensurate reduction in ad space. Radio spend slipped 1.8%, to a total of 8.0 billion.
Directional shifts in measured ad spending are illustrated and summarized by the share allocations of individual media types. Internet display advertising gained 1.1 share points and finished the period at 7.7% of total expenditures. Magazines accounted for 20.2% of measured spending, up from 19.3% a year ago. The offsetting share declines came from Newspapers (down 1.0 share point to 17.8%) and Local TV (down 0.8 share points to 11.2%).
