• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, December 10, 2003

Like many of the established media reporting this week, the burgeoning U.S. cinema advertising marketplace is projected to enjoy a healthy expansion. In fact, if estimates released Tuesday by the newly formed Cinema Advertising Council hold up, 2003 will take in $300 million in cinema ad sales, marking a 20 percent gain over 2002.

That would make the cinema advertising business, which shows TV commercial like-ads before the start of theatrical films in movie theaters, one the fastest growing mediums, although it's still posting hefty increases on a relatively small base.

Even at the half billion mark that the CAC expects the medium to achieve over the next two to three years, cinema advertising would still be a relatively small speck in a total U.S. ad marketplace that is forecasted to be $266.4 billion in 2004, according to Universal McCann forecaster Bob Coen.

But with many advertisers and agencies looking for ways of ensuring their ad messages - especially TV-like full-motion video and sound ads - are seen by captive, rapt consumers, cinema advertising seems bound for a long-term expansion.

The recent rollout of Nielsen Cinema, a new service from the TV ratings company that provides weekly ratings of cinema ad impressions, is expected to provide an established trading currency that can structure cinema advertising as an integral part of the media mix.