UK Advertising Shows Real Terms Decline In Q3

A growing confidence in the UK advertising sector had not yet boosted revenues by the third quarter of the year, with Advertising Association figures showing a nominal rise of just 0.2% year on year and a decline of 2.6% after adjusting for inflation.

It was a mixed performance during the period, with radio and outdoor posting healthy current price rises of 8.8% and 6.6% respectively, whilst television and national newspapers declined by 1.3% and 3.8%. In real terms, all the media sectors bar radio and outdoor showed year on year declines in Q3.

This does not necessarily mean that advertisers are turning away from television and press and toward radio and outdoor. This is because different advertising sectors spend more heavily on certain media and not all sectors are performing equally. Financial advertisers, for example, typically use press and business magazines; as the financial sector is weak, so are the advertising figures for these media.

According to the RAB, the recent growth in radio has been driven by a number of major FMCG brands, which have increased their spend by more than 50% year on year.

The latest forecast from ZenithOptimedia suggests that the coming year will be more positive with the UK’s major media spend expected to rise by 3.2% in 2004 in current currencies, following an anticipated 1.1% rise in 2003 on the same basis (see Conditions Are Firming For Ad Recovery, Says ZenithOptimedia).