• by Paul Gough , March 8, 2004

Contrary to perceptions that the growth in U.S. ad spending is coming from electronic media, print media--thanks to a surprising boost from local newspapers--expanded its market share during 2003.

Broadcast media tallied 50.51 percent of ad revenues in 2003, down from the 51.81 percent market share in 2002, according to a MediaDailyNews analysis of data released Monday by TNS Media Intelligence/CMR. The decline was tied to a less than 1 percent drop in market share for network TV (to 15.87 percent from 16.55 percent) and spot TV (to 12.66 percent from 14.19 percent) that a slight increase in cable TV (9.54 percent to 8.76 percent) didn't stem. Syndication and Spanish-language TV's shares rose only slightly. Local and network radio's market shares were also down slightly.

Print's strong gainers were local newspapers, whose ad revenues grew 13.41 percent to give it 17.75 percent of the ad market in 2003, from 16.61 percent a year earlier. National newspapers and freestanding inserts were essentially flat. Print's market share rose to 42.35 percent from 41.51 percent in 2002.

In terms of year-over-year increases, the Internet led all other mediums, with a 15.71 percent gain in spending in 2003 compared to 2002. But its market share grew only slightly, from 4.64 percent in 2002 to 5.06 percent in 2003. While the Internet's strength isn't surprising, TNS/CMR President/Chief Executive Steven J. Fredericks says that it's going to become even more of a force in the marketplace. "That's an indication of the future," Fredericks says. "The Internet is going to become stronger and stronger."

What is surprising is the relatively poor showing of network TV, whose success had been hyped mercilessly following two years of record-breaking upfronts. Network TV ad spending rose only 1.8 percent, from $20.01 billion in 2002 to $20.3 billion last year.

"We think it's going elsewhere in the TV industry," says Fredericks of ad spending. He noted that network ad time was down 0.8 percent, while cable ad time was up 2.9 percent. Cable TV's ad revenues were also up 15.6 percent, from $10.5 billion in 2002 to $12.5 billion in 2003.