U.S. Ad Spend Down - Cable, Syndicated TV Gain; Newspapers, B2B Mags Lose

Advertising spending in the first half of 2008 declined slightly (-1.4 percent) compared with the first half of 2007, despite healthy advertising growth for several media and among some top advertisers, according to preliminary figures from Nielsen Monitor-Plus - via MarketingCharts.

See table of ad spend growth by media category, 1H07 vs 1H08.

Advertising on Cable TV underwent the largest growth, with an increase of 8.1 percent over the first half of 2007, while Spot Radio fared worst among the 19 media categories analyzed by Nielsen, declining 10.1 percent, according to the numbers.

Within specific categories, the Credit Card Services and Direct Response product categories showed the strongest ad spending gains (18.95 percent and 20.48 percent, respectively), while the Automotive (-.01 percent), Pharmaceutical (-4.76 percent), and Motion Picture (-4.64 percent) categories recorded the largest advertising declines.

Syndication TV (7.2 percent) and National Sunday Supplements (7.2 percent) also enjoyed healthy advertising growth in the first half of 2008. Advertising spend on TV programming and networks targeting Hispanic viewers grew 4.5 percent; however, ad spend on those targeting African Americans declined 5.1 percent.

First half 2008 internet ad spending grew approximately 11 percent overall when including paid search and online video advertising. However, a 27 percent decrease in spending by Financial Services companies - consistently among the top online advertiser segments - drove a 6 percent decline in internet image-based advertising during the period.

Various categories showed strong increases in internet image-based spending during the period, including the Entertainment industry, which grew 47 percent, Automotive, with 45 percent growth, and Consumer Goods advertisers, up 32 percent compared with the same period in 2007.

Top Categories

View table of top 10 product categories, by growth in ad spend.

Spending for the 10 largest advertising categories reached just over $20 billion in the first half of this year, 0.02 percent less than the same period last year. Most of the top 10 product categories showed increased spending, with the exception of Automotive (-8.01 percent), Pharmaceutical (-4.76 percent), Motion Picture (-4.64 percent), and Auto Dealerships (-0.62 percent).

The Direct Response Product category showed the largest period-over-period advertising growth (20.48 percent), driven largely by significant first half 2008 ad spending increases by direct-to-consumer marketer, Allstar Marketing Group (1,507 percent), Video Professor (449 percent), and Rosetta Stone (245 percent).

Despite concerns about the national economy, the Credit Card Services category (18.95 percent) also recorded significant growth in the first half of 2008.