• March 2, 2005

Advertising spending gained in nearly every reported category in 2004, leading to a 6.3 percent rise over spending for the same period last year, Nielsen Monitor-Plus reported yesterday.

While ad dollars were effectively spread evenly across most of the year, the third quarter was the strongest. The Summer Olympics, which attracted more than $1.8 billion in media spending, contributed to much of the increase. Aside from that, after several years of what Nielsen characterized as slow growth, syndicated television advertising rose 13.7 percent.

Automotive advertising experienced the largest dollar increase--ending the year with $17.8 billion, for a net increase of $683 million (4 percent gain over 2003). Prescription drug (approximately $5 billion in total ad spending) and credit card services ($2.2 billion in total) categories followed in terms of increases over last year. Overall, these three categories contributed to an overall increase of $2 billion compared to the same period last year, Nielsen said.--David Kaplan