Posted on 12/11/2006 11:09:19 AM PST by Zakeet
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The recession officially ended five years ago last month, and an upturn in ad spending began the following May. But for media, the recovery has been ... depressing.
To be sure, U.S. ad spending this year will reach a record $285 billion, estimates Robert J. Coen, senior VP-forecasting at Interpublic Group of Cos.' Universal McCann.
But factor in inflation, and spending remains below its peak in the 2000 bubble ($290 billion).
More troubling for media sellers (and good news for buyers), media have largely lost the ability to get easy growth by passing along rate hikes well above the level of inflation.
[Snip]
Given weak revenue prospects, media companies see little choice but to cut costs. It's little surprise, then, that U.S. media employment is 14% below its 2000 peak -- and down 6% from when the supposed ad recovery began in May 2002, according to Ad Age's review of government employment figures.
[Snip]
Newspapers' share of U.S. ad spending fell from 44% in 1935 to 35% in 1946 as radio grew as a national medium. Ad Age's analysis based on Mr. Coen's 2006 estimate shows newspapers this year will account for a record-low 16.7% of ad spending, leaving newspapers a distant second to TV in share of media spending. Newspapers were the largest ad medium until 1994.
(Excerpt) Read more at adage.com ...
This might explain the failure of the MSM to notice the generally good state of the economy.
That or the primal urge of biased, partisan pro-demonrat op-ed pieces masquerading as "news" reportage.
I'll take "all of the above" FTW.
Awww...I'm gonna need a hankie to wipe the tears away.
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