Cable Exceeds Overall Ad Spending Projections: TNS

Forecast Pegs Medium’s 2008 Growth Rate At 5%; TV To Garner 44% Of Budgets

By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 1/7/2008 7:47:00 AM

Ad expenditures across all media are expected to increase 4.2% compared to 2007, with growth attributable to Olympics-related and election campaign spending offsetting the effects of a weakening economy, according to a forecast released today by TNS Media Intelligence.

Cable network TV is among the segments expected to exceed the overall market average with a projected 5% increase in ad sales compared to last year, according to the report. The top gainer, as in 2007, is expected to be Internet ad spending. TNS projects that sector will grow by 14.4% in the coming year.

Television will continue to be the top advertising magnet, with a projected 44.1% of the business, followed by magazines (21.1%); newspapers (17.2 %). Internet, with 8% of the business, will climb into the fourth spot formerly held by radio, which is projected to capture 7% of ad dollars. Outdoor will draw 2.6% of ad revenue, according to the forecast.

All media are projected to achieve some measure of growth in 2008 with the exception of business-to-business magazines, which are expected to decline by 0.1%; and newspapers, which are projected to lose 0.9% of the ad revenues they captured last year.