• by Wayne Friedman , November 6, 2008

Struggling local media and local TV stations' businesses will get no solace next year from online advertising revenues. Although TV stations and other local media company Web sites will collectively grab big advertising gains this year--some 47% higher to $12.9 billion dollars over $8.7 billion in 2007--Borrell Associates says those Web areas should brace for a sharp slowdown in 2009.

In conjunction with the ongoing weak economic environment, the Williamsburg, Va. research company says some individual Web destinations could expect little or no growth, or even a decline next year, in local advertising dollars.

Currently, Borrell is projecting only an 8% overall growth to $13.9 billion--this after many years or double-digit and even triple-digit percentage increases in local ad budgets in previous years.

It notes that traditional forms of interactive advertising, such as banner ads, are quickly falling out of favor with local marketers.

This is not good news for big media companies, such as News Corp. and CBS Corp., which have already seen sharp declines in revenue and profits in their most recent earning periods from traditional TV ad revenue for their respective local TV stations.