US communications spending to decline 1%
Total US communications spending is forecast to decline 1% in 2009 to $882.6 billion, but grow 3.6$ per year over the next five years to over $1 trillion, according to new research.
The latest Communications Industry Forecast from Veronis Suhler Stevenson, covering 2003-2013, says that institutional end-user spending will remain the largest and fastest-growing communications sector, rising by 5.6% annually as a result of strong gains in business information services.
Alternative marketing segments – including branded entertainment and word-of-mouth marketing – will grow 12.6% annually from 2008-2013 and will contribute to overall marketing services spending growth of 3.4% annually in the period 2008-2013, said VSS.
In newspapers, ad spending fell 13.1% to $54.16 billion in 2008, while consumer magazine publishing showed a spending drop of 5.8% to $22.91 billion.
Jim Rutherfurd, executive vice president and managing director at VSS, said: “The prolonged economic downturn has accelerated changes already underway in the communications industry. Notwithstanding significant declines in traditional media, the industry taken as a whole will continue to show relatively solid performance compared to the overall economy.
“These changes are driven by a confluence of factors – primarily the growth of digital end-user businesses and the shift from broad reach traditional advertising to targeted alternative advertising and marketing services.”
Towards the end of last month a Strategy Analytics forecast predicted that the total advertising sector in North America will decline 10.2% in 2009 with online advertising down 3.2% overall.
Also in July, ZenithOptimedia forecast that the global ad market will decline 8.5% this year, with the UK set to suffer a 10.5% fall.