• by David Kaplan , March 9, 2005

Total ad spending for all media last year rose 9.8 percent to $141.1 billion over 2003, TNS Media Intelligence reported on Tuesday. While media spending devoted to television--the category that benefited the most--was boosted by the Summer Olympics and the Presidential election, that doesn't explain the robust ad growth for 2004, which has expanded at a faster rate than the general economy in nine of the last 10 quarters, said Steven J. Fredericks, president and CEO of TNS Media Intelligence. TNS's measurement is in line with past forecasts from ZenithOptimedia and Universal-McCann's Bob Coen, senior vice president, director of forecasting. In its most recent forecast, ZenithOptimedia, which looks at major ad spending, anticipated total U.S. media spending for 2004 to come in 6 percent higher than 2003 to $167 billion. As for UM's Coen, back in December he predicted that U.S. ad spending would rise 7.4 percent to $263 billion (Coen measures all media spending, including Yellow Pages). TNS measures media spending for Network TV, Spot TV, Cable TV, Syndication, Hispanic Network TV, Consumer Magazines, Sunday Magazines, Local Magazines (31 publications), Hispanic Magazines, Newspapers (local and national), Hispanic Newspapers, Network Radio, Spot Radio, Local Radio, Internet, and Outdoor. Almost all of the media measured by TNSMI experienced growth throughout the year, with the Internet, Outdoor, Cable TV, and National Syndication showing the strongest gains. Local Newspapers led in dollar spending for 2004, posting $24.5 billion--an increase of 6.7 percent versus 2003. The Internet showed the most robust year-over-year gain for 2004, posting a 21.4 percent increase to $7.4 billion in ad spending versus 2003. Outdoor advertising increased 20.1 percent to $3.2 billion in spending. This strong growth reflects both organic growth and an expansion in TNS' measurement base. In terms of leading ad spenders, Procter & Gamble took first place again in 2004, posting a 7.4 percent increase to $2.9 billion. P&G was followed by General Motors, whose advertising spending totaled $2.8 billion; and Time Warner with a total of $2.1 billion. Verizon Communications and Ford Motor Company also saw major increases of 27.1 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively. While TNS didn't cite specifics about what encouraged the spending growth in 2004, in their forecasts, both Coen and ZenithOptimedia pointed to double- digit corporate growth as the foremost reason.

Ad Spending by Media: Full Year 2004 vs. 2003

MEDIA	Full Year 2004 (MM)	Full Year 2003 (MM)	% CHANGE
NEWSPAPERS (LOCAL)	$24,555.50	$23,018.50	6.70%
NETWORK TV	$22,522.40	$20,340.60	10.70%
CONSUMER MAGAZINES	$21,292.20	$19,145.90	11.20%
SPOT TV2	$17,305.40	$15,499.20	11.70%
CABLE TV3	$14,248.80	$12,521.60	13.80%
INTERNET	$7,441.50	$6,131.90	21.40%
LOCAL RADIO4	$7,330.50	$7,250.40	1.10%
B-TO-B MAGAZINES	$5,214.10	$5,125.60	1.70%
SYNDICATION - NATIONAL	$3,930.90	$3,395.80	15.80%
HISPANIC MEDIA5	$3,888.60	$3,713.80	4.70%
NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS	$3,255.20	$3,053.10	6.60%
OUTDOOR	$3,213.00	$2,674.40	20.10%
NATIONAL SPOT RADIO	$2,616.50	$2,635.20	-0.70%
SUNDAY MAGAZINES	$1,497.40	$1,383.80	8.20%
FSI's6	$1,391.60	$1,317.20	5.60%
NETWORK RADIO	$1,027.80	$1,000.70	2.70%
LOCAL MAGAZINES	$360.20	$325.40	10.70%
TOTAL7	$141,091.70	$128,533.00	9.80%

Source: TNS Media Intelligence
1Figures are based on the TNS Media Intelligence Stradegy2 multimedia ad expenditure database across all TNSMI measured media, including: Network TV, Spot TV, Cable TV, Syndication, Hispanic Network TV, Consumer Magazines, Sunday Magazines, Local Magazines (31 publications), Hispanic Magazines, Newspapers (local and national), Hispanic Newspapers, Network Radio, Spot Radio, Local Radio, Internet and Outdoor. Figures do not contain public service announcement (PSA) data.
2Spot TV figures do not include Hispanic Spot TV data.
3Cable TV figures based on 44 networks.
4Local Radio includes expenditures for 35 markets in the U.S provided by Miller Kaplan.
5Hispanic Media includes expenditures from Hispanic TV (Univision, Telemundo, Telefutura and Galavision), Hispanic Spot TV, Hispanic Magazines and Hispanic Newspapers.
6FSI data represents distribution costs only.
7The sum of the individual media may differ from the total due to rounding.