U.S. Ad Spending Down 11.5% in First Three Quarters

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According to Nielsen, spending on advertising fell 11.5% in the first three quarters of 2009 over 2008. Preliminary figures showed that spending dropped $10.9 billion to $83.4 billion. Cable TV, both English and Spanish (+36.7%) were among the only three measured media segments to post any growth. Spot Radio fell 9.6% and Network Radio was down 10.2%.

"The struggling economy continues to take its toll on the advertising industry, with most sectors lower than last year," said Nielsen Senior VP for New Business Development Terrie Brennan. "In general, television, particularly cable television, seems to be holding up better than print-based media."

Spanish language television's ad spend (cable and network combined) fell a slight 0.7%, while African-American TV (a subset of Network, Cable, Syndicated, and Local) enjoyed a 31% increase in spending. Overall, TV ad spending fell 8.3% year-to-year through the first three quarters. Almost 70% of all U.S. ad spending by the top ten product categories was invested in television.