• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, October 2, 2008

More bad news for newspapers. National brands--such as The Wall Street Journal and USA Today--would be expected to feel the brunt of any decline in spending by the troubled finance and insurance/real estate categories, according to a new report by Bernstein Research.

Some 21% of their ads come from the two sectors combined--slightly above Internet display advertising and more than double either cable or broadcast TV, at 10% and 9%, respectively.

Together, finance and insurance/real estate account for about 10% of the total U.S. ad market--6% is from the financial segment. The two sectors have seen spending on the rise, accounting for 23% of total growth in ad spending over the past four years, according to the report.

Certain sectors have driven growth at various periods, the report said, such as pharmaceuticals and mobile phones earlier in this decade. And as boom categories have waned, others have stepped in to take their place.

"History suggests that another industry will eventually fill the growth void left by the insurance/real estate and finance sectors, but the operative word is clearly 'eventually,'" wrote the report's author, analyst Michael Nathanson.

Finance, at 6%, is the fourth-largest ad category, behind auto, retail and media/entertainment.

After national newspapers, some 20% of Internet display ads come from the finance and insurance/real estate combination. Cable networks garner 10%, the report said, with broadcast at 9%.

The report did point out that the eight firms that have been the focus of the recent Wall Street/banking turmoil--the likes of Lehman Brothers, AIG, WaMu and Wachovia--accounted for just .3% of U.S. ad spending. Only three--AIG ($118 million last year), Wachovia ($134 million) and WaMu ($160 million)--are significant advertisers.

In 2007, the report said, WaMu spent 18% of its budget on the Internet and 10% on cable, with 0% on broadcast. Wachovia, however, spent 10% on broadcast and another 15% on cable.