Nielsen Reports Slowdown In First Quarter Ad Spending, Huge Jump In Online

In another affirmation of the slowdown in U.S. ad spending, Nielsen's Monitor-Plus unit Tuesday weighed in with first quarter estimates, reporting that ad budgets in the media it tracks fell 0.6% from the first quarter of 2006. The finding is similar to the 0.3% dip reported last week by Monitor-Plus rival TNS Media Intelligence. The reason for differences between the ad spending estimates of the two advertising tracking firms is due partly to differences in their methods and in the base of media they monitor.

Like TNS MI, Monitor-Plus found the Internet to be the fastest growing of the major media, rising 31.9% during the first three months of 2007. That's about twice the rate of online ad spending growth reported by TNS MI. Neither firm accounts for paid search advertising in its online advertising estimates.

Otherwise, the two ad tracking firms reported similar trends among the major media during the first quarter of 2007, with consumer magazines growing at the highest rate among the non-digital media, second only to the Internet, and broadcast network TV being hardest hit (see Monitor-Plus estimates below).

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Among the top U.S. advertisers, Nielsen also found most of the top 10 reduced their ad spending significantly during the first quarter of 2007, and though the percent changes vary between it and TNS MI, only one major marketer stands out between the two monitoring services: Verizon, which Nielsen estimates dropped 8.1% during the quarter, while TNS MI said it grew 5.9%.

Media Category                        Q1
2006 vs. Q1 2007
                                               % Change
    Internet*                                    31.9 %
    National Magazine
6.5%
    Spot TV Markets 101-210                       4.1 %
    Spanish-Language TV                           4.0 %
    National Cable TV
2.5%
    Spot Radio                                    1.4 %
    Local Sunday Supplement                       0.9%
    Outdoor
0.8 %
    National Sunday Supplement                   -1.2 %
    Network Radio                                -2.2 %
    Spot TV Top 100 Markets
-3.7 %
    Local Magazine                               -4.1 %
    Syndicated TV                                -4.5 %
    National Newspaper
-4.9 %
    Local Newspaper                              -6.6 %
    Network TV                                   -8.5 %
    Total Advertising Spending
-0.6 %
    Source:  Nielsen Monitor-Plus
    * Internet data provided by Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance

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