U.S. Ad spending for the first half of 2008 declined slightly compared to the same period last year, but advertising on cable saw an increase of 8.1 percent over the first half of 2007, according to a new report released by Nielsen Monitor-Plus, an advertising information service of The Nielsen Company.

 

Nielsen notes that despite continued softening of the economy, several media and companies showed healthy growth in advertising for the first half. While advertising on Cable TV saw the largest growth, Spot Radio fared worst among the 19 media categories analyzed by Nielsen, declining by 10.1 percent compared with the same period last year.

 

In the first half of 2008, syndication TV and National Sunday supplements also enjoyed healthy advertising growth, both the categories saw an increase of seven plus percent, according to the report.

 

The report finds that TV programming and networks targeting Hispanic viewers grew 4.5 percent while those targeting African Americans declined by 5.1 percent.

 

Internet image-based advertising declined by -6 percent during the period. According to the report, this decline happened due to the 27 percent decrease in spending by financial services companies.

 

However, a number of categories showed strong increases in Internet image-based spending during the period. These categories include the entertainment industry, which grew 47 percent automotive, with 45 percent growth, and consumer goods advertisers, up 32 percent compared to the same period in 2007.

 

Nielsen Online also released additional details on first half 2008 Internet spending. The report estimates approximately 11 percent growth in overall spending when including paid search and online video advertising.

 

Within the specific categories, the credit card services and direct response product categories showed the strongest ad spending gains--+18.95 percent and +20.48 percent, respectively. In comparison, the Automotive, -.01 percent, pharmaceutical,-4.76 percent, and Motion Picture, -4.64 percent, segments recorded the largest advertising declines.