Ad Market Drops In 2008, Cable Registers Uptick

arrow downDespite the successful summer Olympics and record political spending, the ad market still saw a 2.6% drop last year, according to Nielsen. Only cable TV showed an increase, although some programmers have reported a slowdown over the final few months of 2008, in line with other sectors.

The cable segment as a whole was up 7.8%. Hispanic cable--a relatively small business, which includes networks such as Galavision and mun2--saw a 9.6% rise.

Cable generated $26.6 billion in sales, the most of any sector and about 20% of all ad spending.

Nielsen said the Internet saw a 6.4% fall, but that included display-type ads only.

Local newspapers, national newspapers and magazines fell by 10.2%, 9.6% and 7.6%, respectively.

Broadcast television experienced a 3.5% drop, and even as Hispanic cable grew, Spanish-language broadcasters saw a 2.4% decline.

Not surprisingly, as the economy took a hit, the pace of the ad decline in '08 accelerated in the October-December period. Through the first nine months of the year, the market was essentially flat, compared to 2007, at a .6% decline.

Broadcast TV was on pace to post a slight increase for the year, before a tough final quarter reversed that.

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