Ad Spending Up 6.4% for First Half of '04

By: Katy Bachman (Mediaweek) Political advertising combined with an increase in spending among traditional advertisers such as Procter & Gamble, DaimlerChrysler and Nissan Motor Co., helped to boost advertising by 6.4% for the first half of the year, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Monitor-Plus, a division of Nielsen Media Research which is owned by E&P parent VNU.

Advertising spending was up across all 10 reported media, led by local magazines, up 12.7%, followed by cable TV (12.5%), national newspapers (10%), network TV (7.5%), national magazines (6.0%), network radio (5.5%), spot TV (3.3%), spot radio (3.0%), and local newspapers (2.7%).

Although political spending is expected to accelerate in the second half of the year, Monitor-Plus reported that 356,161 commercials have already aired on spot television with the greatest number placed by the two presidential candidates. The John Kerry campaign aired 131,707 spots, slightly more than the 123,285 aired by the George W. Bush campaign. Nearly a third of the spots, (106,284) were placed in TV news programs.

Other popular choices for political ads included network morning shows and daytime talk shows such as "The Dr. Phil Show," "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "Live With Regis & Kelly."

With only two exceptions, the top 10 advertisers spent $8 billion in the first half of 2004, an 11.3% gain over 2003. The No. 1 advertiser, Procter & Gamble increased its budget by 10.6% to $1.45 billion.

The top four automotive advertisers, also increased spending including General Motors Corp., up 7.7% to $1.2 billion; DaimlerChrysler AG, up 55.9% to $887 million; Ford Motor Co., up 11.6% to $705 million; and Nissan Motor Co., up 21.3% to $545 million.