INSIGHTanalysis: Media Healthcheck – June 2008
There were several ad revenue forecasts released in June, with Group M revising down its 2008 UK ad growth forecast to 4% from 6%, adding that – excluding internet traditional – media will fall 2% this year.
Globally, ZenithOptimedia forecast that world adspend will grow 6.6% in 2008, up slightly from the 6.5% growth predicted in its March forecast (see Developing Markets Propel World Ad Expenditure Growth).
The credit crunch continues to worry investors, consumers and advertisers in Western markets, so Zenith has downgraded its forecasts for ad expenditure growth in 2008 from 3.7% to 3.5% for North America, and from 3.9% to 3.7% for Western Europe.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) released its annual global advertising revenue forecast, estimating that global revenues will rise by an average of 6.6% a year by 2012, reaching to $2.2 trillion.
It added that traditional media will continue to dominate market share, with television expected to rise 5.98% on a compound annual growth basis to 2012, despite Wall Street viewing the sector as one of the most vulnerable in a weakened economy (see Global Advertising Revenue To Reach $2.2 Trillion by 2012).
The Advertising Association’s Advertising Statistics Yearbook 2008, meanwhile, revealed that UK advertising expenditure reached £19.4 billion in 2007, up 4.2% year-on year.
Press remains the largest medium, attracting 40% of all advertising expenditure. TV follows with 24%, while internet is the third largest medium accounting for nearly 16% of expenditure (see UK Adspend Grew 4.2% In 2007).
Figures published by TNS in June showed that total US measured advertising expenditures in Q1 2008 increased by 0.6% compared to the same period in 2007 (see US Ad Expenditures Reach 0.6% In Q1).
The Top 10 US advertising categories in the first quarter of 2008 spent an aggregate $17,399.4 million, down 1.8% year on year. Financial services remained the top category at $2,235.5 million, with an increase of 0.3%.
Sticking with the US, the Interactive Advertising Bureau announced that internet advertising revenues reached $5.8 billion in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 18.2% over the same period in 2007 (see US Internet Advertising Revenues Up 18.2% YoY in Q1).
Although the figures were the second highest in history, there was a slight slide of 1.7% from the previous quarter which recorded the largest ever figures, where revenues reached $5.9 billion for Q4.
Moving closer to home, the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe published figures showing that the European online ad market was worth €11.2 billion in 2007, up four billion euros from €7.2 billion in 2006 (see Online Advertising In Europe Grows 40% To €11 billion in 2007).
With a like-for-like growth rate of 40%, the European online advertising market shows signs of closing the gap on the US, which grew 26% to a market value of $14.5 billion in 2007.