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Economic Downturn Sparking Morbid Media News

The lousy economy is making itself felt in a variety of ways across the media landscape, with today’s news being particularly gloomy.

Property Week is reporting that News International and Google have shelved their plans to open new headquarters in London. Both point to the downturn as the reason for the delay.

A new survey by the Association of National Advertisers shows that more than half of 100 advertisers surveyed believe their ad budgets will be reduced in the next six months because of the economic climate, Mediaweek writes.

A growing sense that the global economy will begin to decline is bad news for media conglomerates that had been touting their geographical diversification, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce is quoted as saying, “Media stocks [with] European exposure have been under pressure,” with Virgin Media, British Sky Broadcasting and Liberty Global all struggling. Worse, weaker consumer spending could mean the woes will spread to cable TV.

And WPP is warning (via the Telegraph) that, without the Olympics and U.S. presidential elections spending boost, 2009 may be a difficult year, particularly “if the United States and western European economies continue to be impacted by the financial crisis and commodity price increases.”