Consultants see TV ad dollars growing 7% a year

CONSULTANTS SEE TV AD DOLLARS GROWING 7% A YEAR
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: David Lieberman]
Forget all the talk about advertisers fleeing broadcast and cable TV networks as consumers turn to ad-skipping gadgets such as digital video recorders and new media including Internet video. Industry consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers -- encouraged by the spread of digital and high-definition TV sets -- is boosting its forecast for TV ad sales in the new edition out today of its annual, widely cited five-year Global Entertainment and Media Outlook. The firm sees ad spending at the tried-and-true networks growing at an average of 7.1% per year to nearly $52 billion in 2010 and $48.8 billion in 2009. That's up from last year's forecast of 5.9% annual growth to $43.2 billion in 2009. “The quality expansion is going to draw people into TV viewing,” says Mike Kelley, a partner at the consultant's entertainment and media practice. That's reflected in its HDTV forecast. The firm now says 20 million homes will have HD sets, with their top-quality video and sound, in 2009 — up from last year's estimate of 15 million. It says 25 million homes will have HD sets in 2010. By contrast, the prognosticators have a mixed view about DVRs. PricewaterhouseCoopers trimmed expectations for this year: It says DVRs will be in 13 million homes by year's end, down from 15 million forecast earlier. But it says the total will be 35 million in 2010.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20060621/1b_mediaforecast21.art.htm