UK spending on TV adverts drops - BBC reports

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cited from BBC Business

Money spent on UK television adverts fell last year for the first time since 2001, according to new research.

TV advertising spend declined 4.7% from 2005 levels to £4.59bn - but still accounted for the second largest advertising medium after the press.

The printed press sector also suffered a 2.7% drop in spend, according to the Advertising Association (AA), although directories bucked the trend.

UK spending on internet adverts topped 10% of the total for the first time.

"I believe online spend could overtake TV within the next three to four years," said Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the Internet Advertising Bureau, the trade association for the internet marketing industry.

Apart from the internet, the largest gainer was outdoor advertising.

The figures to be published next month in the AA's Advertising Statistics Yearbook 2007 show advertising spend in the UK exceeded £19bn, up 0.7% from the year before.

Regional newspapers snubbed

The printed press accounted for by far the largest share of total advertising expenditure at 43.7%.

Advertisers snubbed regional newspapers and consumer magazines, but national newspapers registered a marginal increase and spend in directories grew by 3.8%.

Spend on Outdoor advertising increased 4% to £1bn, beating radio which dropped 7.7%.

Online surged 47.5% to £2bn, 10.6% of total expenditure