Where mass media lost ad share in '07

The share of advertising sold by newspapers and local broadcasters last year slipped in favor of such targeted media as the Internet and cable television.

As shown in the table below, local TV sales and print newspaper advertising suffered the deepest declines between 2006 and 2007, falling respectively 9.5% and 9.4%. Radio advertising, which is somewhat more targeted than that of newspapers and TV, nonetheless dropped 3.5% in the year.

The gainers, as you might suspect, were led by Internet advertising, which climbed 24.9% to a record $21.1 billion. While web advertising advanced a brisk 18.8% at newspapers, the gain represents only three-quarters of the growth achieved by the over-all online industry.

As total advertising spending rose by 0.4% to $171.1 billion in 2007, the share of the dollars spent at newspapers fell 3 points from the prior year to 25% of the total media market. Local TV fell 1 point in the 12 months to 10% of the market.

The Internet attracted 13% of ad dollars, rising 2 points for the year. Magazines and cable TV, which are the most targeted among the traditional mass media, each gained 1 point of market share, claiming respectively 18% and 11% of the total spend.