US advertisers cut ad spend during 2008

US advertising revenue fell by around 2.6% between 2007 and 2008, according to the latest figures from Nielsen.

The report for the full year of 2008 shows that Cable TV and Hispanic Cable TV were the only sectors to show ad growth, while overall expenditure declined around $3.7 billion to a total of $136.8 billion last year.

Annie Touliatos, VP of sales development for Monitor-Plus – Nielsen’s ad tracking service, said: “Given the state of the US economy, a decline in ad spending was expected, but it’s not as bad as it could have been.

“The campaign season and the Summer Olympics were two big events that had a tremendous impact on advertising, especially on TV buys,” she added.

The top 10 advertisers spent a total of $15.5 billion in 2008, 15% down from 2007, according to Nielsen.

Procter & Gamble managed for maintain its status as the top-spending advertiser during the year, despite suffering a 19% downturn from the previous year.