• by Wayne Friedman , March 12, 2010

Multicultural advertising spending sank across the board in 2009 with one exception: cable TV advertising.

For example, TV marketing on Spanish-language cable networks and other outlets had a big 32% increase, according to a new Nielsen Company study, with 19 of the top 20 advertisers increasing their spending over the previous year, landing at $426.9 million.

Still, all other Spanish-language media sank, on average, 4.7% to $5.4 billion. The biggest category, Spanish-language broadcast TV, declined 3.9% to $2.9 billion. Spot television, the second-biggest category, was down 10% to $1.4 billion.

African-American media spending sank at a faster rate than Spanish-language: 7.3% in 2009 to $1.9 billion. Like Spanish-language, African-American media's biggest growth area was cable television, its second-largest category, climbing 35.1% to $728.4 million.

The hardest-hit area was network television:  a 72% drop to $26.6 million. The biggest category, spot radio, slipped 9.6% to $747.8 million.

The biggest advertising categories for both Spanish-language and the African-American media were quick-service restaurants, with such advertising climbing 13.9% to $334.6 million, and 19.2% to $86.9 million, respectively.

But automotive advertising, the second-biggest category for both media groups, had major declines a year ago, with spending in Spanish-language down 39% in 2009, and for African-American media off 18%.