TV to drive UK advertising growth this year

TV will be the main driver of advertising growth in 2010, with revenues expected to grow an estimated 9.1% this year, according to the latest AA/WARC Expenditure Report.

And TV is expected to outperform online, which is forecast to grow 7.7% this year.

Magna recently forecast that global online advertising will rise by 12.4% in constant currency terms during 2010, to $61 billion dollars.

Overall, the report says that  the UK advertising market will grow 3.3% in 2010, up from the previous forecast of 2.3%, with total adspend hitting £14.98 billion in 2010, an increase of £0.5 billion from 2009.

The figures show that UK adspend was up by 3.4% in Q1, a faster than expected boost after six consecutive quarters of decline.

Most media performed well during the quarter, with out of home (+14,6%) the strongest performer. There were also big gains for TV (+9.8%), internet (+9.2%), radio (+8.7%) and cinema (+3%).

There was also a return to growth for financial advertising, up 0.4% in the first quarter for the first time since Q3 2007, with this positive trend predicted to continue.

However, COI advertising spend is expected to be reduced considerably. As a result, the government and charity sector – which accounted for 7.2% of total adspend last year – is predicted to register a double digit decline in 2010. All other sectors should see growth across 2010 and 2011.

Tim Lefroy, chief executive at the Advertising Association, said: “Despite the doomsday predictions as the government slashes adspend, the industry is in good health.

“Overall performance is actually outstripping the official forecasts.”