Global ad spending to fall by 7%

Declines in global advertising will be much worse than expected, says a leading media buyer , which will on Tuesday unveil the grimmest forecasts yet seen for the advertising market and traditional media companies. Worldwide advertising spending, a barometer for economic confidence, will fall 6.9 per cent in 2009 to $453bn, compared with 1 per cent growth last year, predicts ZenithOptimedia, the media buying unit of Publicis, the world's fourth-largest advertising group. The forecasts outstrip rivals' figures released last month. Group M, owned by WPP, expects a 4.4 per cent decline this year and Carat, owned by Aegis, expects a 5.8 per cent drop. The outlook is gloomiest for newspapers. Spending is projected to fall 12 per cent. Radio and magazines are also grappling with double-digit declines. Television is expected to perform relatively well, with ad spending down 5.5 per cent, due to its vastly reduced prices, marketers' familiarity with the medium and evidence that consumers are also watching more television, rather than going out. In contrast, the Internet's share of advertising continues to grow, reaching a projected 12.1 per cent of overall spending.