CMR estimates that total ad spending for the first half of 2001 came in at just under $47.5 billion, compared to $50.4 billion for the same timeframe in 2000. Print media saw a significant drop-off in revenue for the first half of the year, with magazines down 4.5 percent and daily and Sunday newspapers down 6.6 and 10.4 percent respectively. Network and Spot television continue to be impacted by the economic downturn, with declines of approximately 2 and 15 percent respectively, compared to the first half of 2000. Syndicated and cable television were the bright spots, showing gains of 5.1 and 4.6 percent respectively.

"Second quarter results are not much of a surprise. After we saw ad spending drop 5 percent during the first quarter, we certainly did not expect an upswing during the second quarter," said David Peeler, president and CEO of CMR. "With the economy not showing near-term signs of rebounding, advertising will continue to fall victim to budget cuts within Corporate America. Until the overall economy experiences a turn for the better, we cannot anticipate a positive change for the advertising landscape this year."

Ad Spending by Media: First Half 2000 vs 2001

Top Ten Ad Spenders: First Half 2000 vs 2001

Most of the nation's top advertisers slashed their budgets during the first half of 2001. The top spender, General Motors, cut a significant 23.5% of its ad spending from the first half of last year, trimming $1.4 billion down to $1.1 billion. Philip Morris, DaimlerChrysler and Walt Disney also dramatically cut spending. In sharp contrast, however, media giant AOL Time Warner upped its ad spending by over 20 percent.

About CMR
TNS Media Intelligence/CMR, offers strategic advertising intelligence to advertising agencies, advertisers, broadcasters and publishers. The company's tracking technologies collect occurrence and expenditure data, as well as the creative executions of over 900,000 brands across 15 media. CMR is headquartered in New York City and maintains sales locations in major markets throughout the United States. For further information, visit http://www.cmr.com.

Through its network of offices in more than 50 countries, Taylor Nelson Sofres provides marketing information services to leading national and multi-national companies operating in over 80 countries. It is ranked as the fourth largest marketing information group in the world. Further information on Taylor Nelson Sofres is available from the corporate Web site: http://www.tnsofres.com.

¹ Figures are based on CMR's Stradegy2 multimedia ad expenditure database.

EDITOR'S NOTE: First Half 2001 Advertising Spending By Industry Category available upon request.