No Positive Advertising Shift Anticipated This Year, Says CMR

CMR estimates that total adspend for the first half of 2001 came in at just under $47.5 billion, compared to $50.4 billion for the same period in 2000. Print media saw a significant drop-off in revenue for the first half of the year, with magazines down 4.5% and daily and Sunday newspapers down 6.6% and 10.4% respectively.

Network and Spot television continue to be impacted by the economic downtown, with declines of approximately 2.0% and 15% respectively, says CMR. Syndicated and cable television performed better, with gains of 5.1% and 4.6%.

AD SPENDING BY MEDIA: FIRST HALF 2000 VS 2001
	JAN-JUNE 2000 (millions)	JAN-JUNE 2001 (millions)	% Change
Network TV	$10,678	$10,430	-2.3
Magazines	$8,480	$8,100	-4.5
Spot TV	$8,417	$7,176	-14.7
Cable TV	$5,278	$5,521	4.6
Sunday newspapers	$5,355	$4,800	-10.4
Daily newspapers	$4,352	$4,065	-6.6
Syndication – national	$1,539	$1,618	5.1
National newspapers	$1,980	$1,589	-19.7
Outdoor	$1,184	$1,220	-3.1
National spot radio	$1,323	$1,027	-22.4
Sunday magazines	$531	$539	1.5
Network Radio	$466	$408	-12.5
Source: CMR (Taylor Nelson Sofres)

“Second quarter results are not much of a surprise. After we saw ad spending drop 5% during the first quarter, we certainly did not expect an upswing during the second quarter,” says David Peeler, president and CEO of CMR. “With the economy not showing near-term signs of rebounding, advertising will continue to fall victim to budget cuts within corporate America. Until the overall economy experiences a turn for the better, we cannot anticipate a positive change for the advertising landscape this year.”

Most of the nation’s top advertisers slashed their budgets during the first half of 2001, says the report. The top spender, General Motors, cut a significant 23.5% of its ad spending from the first half of last year, trimming $1.4 billion down to $1.1 billion. Philip Morris, DaimlerChrysler and Walt Disney also dramatically cut spending. In sharp contrast, however, media giant AOL Time Warner increased its spend by more than 20%.