• February 4, 2003

Media account turnover totaled $499 million in January, far below the $2 billion in media account switches that occurred in January 2002, according to the MAP Barometer. Seventeen advertisers reassigned their media accounts in January 2003, compared to eight in December 2002 when turnover totaled $275 million. A year ago in January, 24 media accounts changed hands. “Five hundred million dollars in media account changes is a pretty active month. You saw lots of activity in the $10 to $20 million billings category and nothing over $100 million,” said Jim Surmanek, CEO of MediaAnalysisPlus. The largest single media account change in January was Mediaedge:CIA’s win of the consolidated ChevronTexaco Corp. account, worth a reported $95 million. Thirteen of the 17 accounts were between $10 million and $50 million in annual billings.