Ad Spending Down in Newspapers During Q1

By: E&P Staff Advertising spending in national and local newspapers fell during Q1 compared to the same quarter last year according to the latest data from Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Advertising revenue in national newspapers dropped 4.9% for the period while advertising revenue in local newspapers declined further at 6.6%. Only network TV experienced weaker results with ad spending down 8.5%.

Spending on local Sunday supplements slipped 0.9%, while ad spending in national Sunday supplements fell 1.2%.

Nielsen Monitor-Plus (owned by E&P parent the Nielsen Co.) reported that Internet advertising soared 31.9% during the quarter. National magazines, spot TV, and Spanish-language TV reported healthy gains, up 6.5%, 4.1%, and 4.0% respectively. Spending on cable was up too 2.5%.

Additionally, spending at the top 10 advertisers was down 15% to $4 billion in Q1. Nine of the 10 advertisers cut budgets. Nielsen Monitor-Plus reported that only DaimlerChrysler increased its budget by 3.3%. General Motors was down 35.8%. Ad spending at Ford Motor Co. was down slightly at 1.8%.

By category across all media, automotive advertising, including factory and deal associations, dropped 14.8%. Ad spending with local auto dealers also declined 20.9%. Department store advertising was down 15.2%. Motion picture advertising slipped 3.9%.