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U.S. Advertising Spending Down 0.1% in First Three Quarters, Online Up 16%

Advertising spending for the first three quarters of 2007 was essentially flat - decreasing 0.1 percent over the same period last year - with internet ad spend growth (15.9 percent increase) the most of any category, according to The Nielsen Company, reports MarkeingCharts.

Other categories that showed an increase during the first three quarters (see table of year-over-year change by medium) were National Magazines (7.7 percent), National Sunday Supplements (6.0 percent), Outdoor (5.7 percent) and National Cable TV (1.2 percent), according to preliminary figures from Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

(Also see chart: “Share of Ad Spending by Medium - September 2007.”)

Additional data issued by Nielsen for the first three quarters of 2007:

Top 10 Advertisers’ Ad Spend

Advertising spending across monitored media for the top 10 companies in the first three quarters of 2007 surpassed $12B, down from $13+B for the same time period in 2006.

(See table of top 10 advertisers’ ad spend in the first three quarters vs. year-earlier period.)

Eight out of the top 10 advertisers decreased budgets. General Motors continues to show the largest decline.

Top 10 Categories’ Ad Spend

Spending for the 10 largest categories reached $20.8 billion in the first three quarters, 2.3 percent less than the same period last year (see table of ad spend by product category for the first three quarters):

• Most product categories have decreased their ad spending, with the exception of Pharmaceuticals, Wireless Telephone Services, and Direct Response Products.
• The top category in terms of increased ad spend was Wireless Telephone Services at 7.3 percent.
• Verizon Wireless was the top brand in terms of total ad spending for this time period in the wireless product category at $449.2 million, and AT&T Wireless second at $402.5 million in ad spend.

Product Placement

Broadcast Network Product Placement (see tables of top 10 programs and top 10 featured brands)

Nielsen Product Placement Service reports an increased number of product placement occurrences in prime-time broadcast network programming for the first three quarters of 2007, based on its Top 10 Programs Broadcast Network ranking (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW & MyNetworkTV tracked):

• The Top 10 programs featured 22,046 occurrences, compared with 19,125 for the same time period last year.
• “American Idol” is once again the No. 1 show in terms of the number of product placements, a position it held last year.
• During the first three quarters of 2007, American Idol featured 4,349 product placement occurrences.
• The Top 10 featured brands on prime-time broadcast network television for first three quarters of 2007 accounted for 9,198 occurrences - a slight increase compared with the same time period last year, when 9,181 brands were reported.
• Coca-Cola, primarily through its association with “American Idol,” was the top brand once again, with 3,111 occurrences for this time period.
• Chef Revival apparel placed second with 1,256 product placements; Chef Revival Apparel outfits the cast on Fox’s reality program “Hell’s Kitchen.”

Cable Network Product Placement (see tables of top 10 programs and top 10 featured brands)

Nielsen Product Placement Service reports a decrease in the number of product placement occurrences in prime-time cable network programming for the first three quarters of 2007, based on its Top 10 Programs Cable Network ranking (A&E, HGTV, MTV, TLC, BRAVO tracked):

• The Top 10 programs featured 136,078 occurrences for the first three quarters of 2007 vs. 160,118 occurrences for the first three quarters 2006.
• “American Chopper,” which premiered in Jan 2007, is the No. 1 cable network show in terms of the number of product placements, with 41,657 occurrences.
• The Top 10 featured brands on prime-time cable network television for the first three quarters of 2007 accounted for 37,933 occurrences a decrease compared with the same time period last year, when 41,493 occurrences were reported.
• Orange County Chopper apparel was the top brand with 8,030 occurrences for the first three quarters of 2007.