The veteran ad spending tracker said the economy's continued resilience and strong advertiser demand that is pushing up prices for network TV commercials prompted him to boost his December forecast of 8.3% growth for this year.
Political advertising, spending by Internet companies to make names for themselves and promotions related to the Millennium and the Summer Olympics in Australia were also cited for the surge in ad spending.
It would be the biggest increase in ad spending since a 15.8% increase in 1984, when Los Angeles hosted the Olympic Games during an election year and triggered a burst of extra commercial activity.