• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, February 16, 2006

In a presentation to brokers and corporate bankers in London recently, the President of WAN, Gavin O'Reilly, demonstrated that print media continues to be successful in both readership and revenue terms and that "reading is still a vital ingredient in the human experience." Moreover, he stressed that investors and analysts needed to test the empirical market evidence and not "regurgitate well worn myths", and recognize that the manner in which "they themselves consume media is not a reliable proxy for the general public."

As Zenith Optimedia forecast that the global advertising market would be over $370 billion in 2006, O'Reilly noted that an estimated $100 billion was spent in newspapers (last year), second only to Television at $130 billion. "That newspaper spend," he said, "despite the growing competition, (was) up 5% in 2005. What is interesting... is that it confirms that spend in newspapers worldwide, exceeds the combined spend of radio, outdoor, cinema, magazines and the internet..."

Newspaper circulations worldwide continue to grow - and while this growth is skewed to developing markets, much of the decline in Western markets is reflected in changing consumer habits for evening newspapers.

If the key to media exposure (and thus advertising effectiveness) is the time that people spend reading, watching, using or listening to the medium, says O'Reilly, how much do advertisers invest in reaching their audience?

• Every hour of TV viewing attracts advertisers to spend $40.1 million.
• For each hour of radio listenership, its only $19.3 million
• And for the Internet advertisers only spend $65.4 million, over 50% more than TV
• For newspapers, advertisers spend $316.3 million for every hour of newspaper reading

In the UK, when asked which "media I wouldn't be without...", consumers responded:

Read the complete presentation here.