US adspend down 14.2% in Q1 2009
US adspend was down 14.2% year on year in the first quarter of 2009, to $30.2 billion, according to the latest data from TNS Media Intelligence.
Jon Swallen, SVP Research at TNS Media Intelligence, said: “The ad market declined significantly in the first quarter, overtaken by a collapsing economy which prompted consumers and marketers alike to shut their wallets and conserve.
“While there are hopeful signs of general economic indicators bottoming out, the advertising sector still appears to be lagging behind. Available data from second quarter shows ad expenditures tracking on a comparable plane to recent months.”
Local media suffered most, said TNS, with aggregate expenditures falling 25.4% in the first quarter of 2009. The rate of decline was similar across Local Newspapers (-25.1%) and Local Radio (-26.8%).
For national media, combined ad spending fell 8.5% versus a year ago. Within this segment, performance was sharply defined along the lines of print versus television versus online.
| Percent change in measured ad spending Q1 2009 v Q1 2008 (1) | |
| Media Sector | % Change |
| Media Type (shown in rank order of 2009 spending) | |
| Television Media | -9.7% |
| Network TV | -4.2% |
| Cable TV | -2.7% |
| Spot TV (2) | -27.5% |
| Syndication – National | 0.2% |
| Spanish Language TV | -15.4% |
| Magazine Media (3) | -20.5% |
| Consumer Magazines | -19.2% |
| B-to-B Magazines | -25.5% |
| Sunday Magazines | -23.7% |
| Local Magazines | -25.3% |
| Spanish Language Magazines | -20.5% |
| Newspaper Media (4) | -25.5% |
| Newspapers (Local) | -25.1% |
| National Newspapers | -28.5% |
| Spanish Language Newspapers | -21.6% |
| Internet (display ads only) | 8.2% |
| Radio Media | -26.2% |
| Local Radio (5) | -26.8% |
| National Spot Radio | -31.7% |
| Network Radio | -11.2% |
| Outdoor | -14.6% |
| FSIs (6) | -0.2% |
| TOTAL | -14.2% |
| Source: TNS Media Intelligence | |
| Figures are based on the TNS Media Intelligence StradegyTM multimedia ad expenditure database across all TNS MI measured media, including: Network TV; Spot TV (135 DMAs); Cable TV (67networks); Syndication TV; Hispanic Network TV (4 networks); Consumer Magazines (226 publications); Sunday Magazines (7 publications); Local Magazines (24 publications); Hispanic Magazines (19 publications); Business-to-Business Magazines (362 publications); Local Newspapers (148 publications); National Newspapers (3 publications); Hispanic Newspapers (48 publications); Network Radio (5 networks); Spot Radio; Local Radio (32 markets); Internet; and Outdoor. Figures do not include public service announcement (PSA) data. 2. Spot TV figures do not include Hispanic Spot TV data. 3. Magazine media includes Publishers Information Bureau (PIB) data and reflect print editions of publications. 4. Newspaper media figures reflect print editions of the publications. 5. Local Radio includes expenditures for 32 markets in the U.S. 6. FSI data | |
TNS revealed that the top 10 advertisers in the first quarter of 2009 spent a combined total of $4,019.5 million, a 5.7% decline from last year. Across the top 100 companies, a more diversified group of marketers representing nearly one-half of total ad expenditures, spending fell by 8.1%.
The Top 10 advertising categories in the first quarter of 2009 spent a combined $16,735.6 million, down 13.6% year on year.
In march, a tracking study from Advertiser Perceptions revealed that nearly a third of US agencies (31%) believed they would reduce their ad spending over the coming six months (see US ad agencies pessimistic about short-term spending).