• by Wayne Friedman , January 25, 2010

Forrester Research says the TV advertising business will gain slightly in 2010 -- moving in line with slight improvements in the economy. The forecast estimates that TV spending will be pushed up 1% to $69.5 billion, similar to other TV ad predictions.

Forrester says television will remain the dominant mass medium and the biggest line item in consumer marketers' budgets.

Long-term, the survey sees cable TV getting the benefits of advanced TV ad technologies, such as addressability and interactivity ahead of other TV platforms. Over a five-year period, this will grow the cable business at a 4% compounded annual growth rate.

In a separate blog, David Cooperstein, vice president and role manager and marketing leadership for Forrester Research, writes: "TV spending is still the biggest above-the-line expense, even as Internet usage increases and mass media audiences fragment. Yet 65% of marketing leaders think Internet measurement is more useful than TV measurement."

Cooperstein says marketers will adhere to the belief that Internet accountability will closely follow that of direct marketing: "We believe that the measurement of TV advertising will become more like that of interactive marketing, not the other way around, and as such branding efforts will be held to the stricter accountability that has driven direct marketing spending from the mail and digital eras."