TV Spots Resist Flow of Dollars to the Web

Despite the torrent of dollars marketers are pouring online, big advertisers aren't expected to cut back their television budgets anytime soon.

Even as Americans watch less TV and spend more time on the Web, mobile phones and other entertainment options, marketers are investing more money than ever on television ads. New forecasts call for the $59.7 billion U.S. television-advertising market to grow steadily for the next half decade and continue to capture a dominant share of total U.S. ad spending. "Television is going to play a very prominent role well into the future," said Joel Ewanick, global chief marketing officer at auto maker General Motors Co., the second-largest advertiser in the country by spending. Advertisers are expected to boost their spending on TV by 3.3% this year, with the medium capturing a 34% share of the total U.S. ad market, according to data released Thursday by Interpublic Group of Co.'s Magnaglobal, in one of Madison Avenue's most closely watched forecasts. The ad-buying firm says that, by 2016, TV's share of the advertising market is expected to increase to 38%, or $81.3 billion.