• by Masha Geller , March 5, 2002

Not that we needed final confirmation of 2001 being a horrible year for the advertising industry, but according to tallies released this morning by Taylor Nelson Sofres' CMR, ad spending took an even bigger hit in 2001 than originally forecast.

CMR said that total measured media spending was down 9.7% to $98.21 billion in 2001, from $108.81 billion in 2000.

According to CMR’s totals, national newspapers were hit the hardest, dropping 23% to $2.95 billion, followed by national spot radio, which was down 20.4% to $2.17 billion. Spot TV dropped 18.2%, followed by network radio, which was down 12.5%, network TV at down 8.1%. Magazines were also down 7.6%, newspapers dropped 7% and outdoor remained relatively flat, down 0.8% to 2.46 billion.

The only media to rise were cable TV, which went up 1% to $10.42 billion, and syndicated TV, which was almost flat at 0.1% growth to $3.19 billion.

Naturally, ad spending is expected to rise 1.5% in 2002, according to CMR’s full-year forecast released last month. David Peeler, President and CEO of CMR said, “As our nation emerges from recession, we believe the worst is behind us and expect to see a slight industry rebound by the onset of the third quarter of 2002."

CMR maintains that spending will continue to be soft through the first half of the year, although the declines will be much less than those seen in the third and fourth quarters of 2001. Researchers expect the market to rebound beginning with third quarter of 2002. The one thing to remember in all of this, however, is that this rebound is relative to the depressed levels of the third and fourth quarters of 2001.