• by Masha Geller , June 25, 2002

Good new for all. Advertising spending is expected to rise 2.5% for 2002 to 109.1 billion, according to the mid-year estimate first released yesterday by CMR.

"We are off to a good start this year, which suggests a rebound over last year," said David Peeler, president and CEO of CMR. "All and all, we can expect three factors to boost the market this year: the impact of the upfront on the broadcast season, the upcoming elections in November and the continued growth of Spanish Language television,” he said. “Nonetheless, despite the improvement over 2001, full year 2002 will be down 6.7% when compared to the high-water mark of 2000."

CMR estimates that total ad spending for the first half of 2002 will show a slight decline, down 0.4% compared to the same timeframe in 2001. In retrospect, without the $986 million in ad spending on the Winter Olympics, the first half of 2001 would be down 2.2%.

While improvement in the latter half of the year is expected due to stronger growth during the third and fourth quarters, the second half of 2002 is being compared to the particularly depressed levels of 2001.

The upcoming elections in November will provide added spending for spot television, local newspapers and radio advertising across markets in states with significant Congressional and statewide races. For Spanish Language TV, CMR predicts to lead spending in 2002 by 10.4%. It's anyone's guess where the web will end up, but CMR is projecting a growth of 5.3%.

Overall, 2002 shapes up to be a better year than 2001, CMR says.