UK spending on TV & press adverts drop

Money spent on UK TV advertising fell last year for the first time since 2001 but the medium still remains second favorite after press advertising.

According to figures released today, TV advertising spend declined 4.7% from 2005 levels to �4.59bn.

The printed press sector also suffered a 2.7% drop in spend, according to the Advertising Association (AA), although directories bucked the trend.

Internet advertising topped the 10% mark for the first time.

“I believe online spend could overtake TV within the next three to four years,” said Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the Internet Advertising Bureau, the trade association for the internet marketing industry.

Apart from Internet advertising, the other big gainer was outdoor advertising such as billboards.

The figures to be published next month in the AA’s Advertising Statistics Yearbook 2007 show advertising spend in the UK exceeded �19bn, up 0.7% from the year before.