• by Joe Mandese , January 18, 2005

Demand for advertising inventory in the major media ended on a strong note during the final month of 2004, with 46 percent of media planning and buying executives indicating their demand had increased from the same point a year ago. Forty-eight percent said their demand was even, and only 6 percent said it had decreased. That's significant, because the December 2004 results of the regular ad demand tracking study compare with December 2003, which reflected the highest level of demand since MediaPost began surveying the market in August 2003.

The results, part of a series of monthly surveys conducted online among the MediaPost Advisory Panel by InsightExpress, reflects the most stable point in the 18-month period in terms of perceptions of relative demand for advertising media.

By contrast, when MediaPost initiated the survey in August 2003, relative demand appeared to be at its low point, with nearly a fifth (18 percent) of respondents indicating their demand had decreased.

Ad Demand Index

                   Increased    Stayed The Same    Decreased 
August '03               39%                43%          18%

December '03             55%                39%           6% 
December '04             46%                48%           6% 

Source: MediaPost advisory panel. Conducted online via InsightExpress. Base: August '03 = 494; December '03 = 195; December '04 = 100.

The December 2004 findings are consistent with 2005 projections released by leading advertising forecasters, which call for moderate growth in ad spending across most media during the year.

Also consistent with those forecasts, online media reflected the strongest level of relative demand. In fact, the demand index for online media achieved its highest point over the past 18 months with 74 percent of respondents indicating their demand for online inventory had increased relative to a year ago.

Cable remained the second strongest medium in terms of relative demand, with slightly more than half of respondents indicating an increase.

Newspapers, which had been one of the laggard mediums during the past 18 months, surprisingly emerged as the third strongest medium in relative demand, with 31 percent of planners and buyers indicating an increase.

Demand for radio and outdoor media has fallen precipitously, while demand for consumer magazines and network TV remains consistent with recent surveys, albeit near the bottom of the demand index.

How has your demand for the following media changed relative to the same point a year ago:

          ----Increased----  -Stayed The Same-  ----Decreased---- 

08/03 12/03 12/04  08/03 12/03 12/04  08/03 12/03 12/04 
Online      56%   65%   74%    33%   26%   20%    11%    9%    6% 
Cable       53%   50%   51%    35%   36%   40%    13%   14%    9%

Radio       41%   46%   28%    45%   43%   53%    15%   11%   19% 
Outdoor     35%   38%   24%    45%   43%   56%    19%   19%   20% 
Magazines   31%   27%   27%    47%   43%   51%    20%
30%   22% 
Network TV  31%   19%   20%    47%   57%   55%    22%   24%   25% 
Newspapers  27%   24%   31%    45%   49%   50%    27%   27%   19% 

Source: MediaPost advisory panel. Conducted online via InsightExpress. Base: August '03 = 494; December '03 = 195; December '04 = 100.