• by John Gaffney , June 3, 2003

Media account turnover continued at a brisk pace in May, with 12 advertisers shifting a combined $945 million in billings, up from the $850 million that changed hands in April, according to the MAP Barometer.

Year to date through May, media account turnover in 2003 is $3.057 billion versus $4.493 billion for the same period last year. That's still a very active landscape, and one that is still volatile, according to Jim Surmanek, Chief Executive Officer of MediaAnalysisPlus, which publishes the MAP Barometer.

"Accounts are moving for a slew of different and totally unrelated reasons," Surmanek said. "Last year a lot of the movement had to do with consolidation. This year it's some consolidation, there's change at creative agencies and there's changes within agencies. It's really all over the place."

Last May was the second most-active month of 2002, according to Surmanek. So far this year, May has been the busiest month for media account changes. The average number of reassigned media accounts in excess of $10 million, roughly 14 per month in 2002, has dropped to about 12 this year.

The biggest media assignment recorded in May was the win by Omnicom's PHD of the $240 million GAP Inc. account. Next were Nextel and Pharmacia at $150 million and $145 million in billings, respectively.

"We could end this year with more than $8 billion in account changes," Surmanek said. "That's less than last year, but still a significant number."