• by Wayne Friedman , June 17, 2008

While U.S. advertising was essentially flat in the first half of 2008, some niche media segments rose substantially in the period.

Spanish-language television, African-American television, national newspaper Sunday supplements and network radio climbed by healthy increases, according to The Nielsen Company's Nielsen Monitor Plus advertising service.

National Sunday newspaper supplements rocketed up almost 20% in the first quarter of 2008 versus the same period the year before--the best performance of any media category.

But other newspaper ad-spending categories still pointed down--general local newspaper slipped 5.4% and general national newspaper was off 6.2%. Local newspaper Sunday supplements, falling 13.5%, was the worst media category.

Network cable television, at a 12.9% increase, was tied for second with African-American television. Next came network radio at a 10% gain. Spanish-language television grew 7.7% during the period.

The other two media areas in the plus column were outdoor advertising --which continues its strong results with a 2.9% growth rate--and syndicated TV, up 2.3%.

Other notable areas that declined included network television, which drifted back 3.4%; local spot television in smaller markets, 101-210, down 3.8%; and local spot radio, which continues its decline, off 4.9%. Business-to-business advertising was almost at the bottom of all media categories--just ahead of local Sunday supplements--at a 6.1% decline.

Automotive advertising, the biggest advertising category, continued to take big hits--down 8.32% to $2.7 billion. On the plus side, the fourth-biggest category--restaurants--perked up 4.36% to $1.03 billion. Direct-response advertising witnessed major improvements, up 16% to $670.2 million.

The biggest advertiser--Procter & Gamble--grew almost 20% to $902.8 million. AT&T, the third-biggest spender, pulled back just over 16% to $465.7 million. PepsiCo grew almost 40% to $354.8 million.