U.S. Ad Spend Declines 0.5% In First Half 2007

U.S. Advertising Spending Declines 0.5% In First Half 2007, Nielsen Reports

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The Nielsen Company today reported that advertising spending for the first half of 2007 was down 0.5% over the same period last year, with Internet spending showing the strongest performance (+23.6%) of any category.

According to preliminary figures from Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the leading provider of competitive advertising information, advertising spending was mixed across media with gains in some categories and declines in others. In addition to Internet advertising, other categories that showed an increase during the first half of this year were: National Magazines (8.4%), National Sunday Supplements (6.5%), Outdoor (5.1%) and Spot TV Markets 101-210 (3.2%).

"Even in this soft market outdoor ad spending continues to show strength. This traditional medium has embraced technology and is offering more and more digital and interactive advertising opportunities," said Brian Lane, Senior Vice President of Client Strategy & Product Development for Nielsen Monitor-Plus. "National magazine ad spending is also on an upswing with increased rate card ad revenue reported for the first half of 2007."

Notes:

- Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance service estimated online advertising expenditures account for CPM-based image-based advertising. All reported estimated expenditures and impressions do not account for the following placement types: text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, compound ads, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns. AdRelevance currently does not report estimated spending for paid search advertising. Above data does not include any house advertising activity.

- Newspaper reflects display ads only

- Coupon and Syndicated TV data was excluded due to recent methodology changes

Advertiser Spending

Advertising spending across monitored media for the top 10 companies in the first half of 2007 reached $8.3 million, down 7.3% from the same time period in 2006. Seven out of the ten advertisers decreased budgets. General Motors continues to show the largest decline, cutting advertising for some truck brands, although they did increase spending on Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid trucks as well as Saturn hybrid cars and trucks.

Top 10 Parent Companies Jan - June 2006 ($ mil) Jan - Jun 2007 ($ mil) % Change
Procter & Gamble Co. $1,680 $1,657 -1.4%
General Motors Corp. $1,319 $954 -27.7%
AT&T Inc. $1,050 $914 -12.9%
Ford Motor Co. $853 $871 2.1%
Johnson & Johnson $774 $720 -7.0%
Verizon Communications Inc. $714 $733 2.7%
Time Warner Inc. $702 $650 -7.4%
Toyota Motor Corp. $662 $628 -5.2%
Kraft Foods Inc. $606 $608 0.4%
Cerberus Cptl Mgt (Chrysler)*
*Chrysler, Dodge, GMAC, Jeep brands $615 $588 -4.4%
Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus

Category Spending
Spending for the 10 largest categories reached $20.8 billion in the first half, 2% less than the same period last year. Most product categories have decreased spending, with the exception of Pharmaceuticals, Wireless Telephone Services, and Direct Response Products. The top category in terms of total dollars, Automotive, also had the greatest dollar and percent decline (-$671 million; -10%).

Product Category Jan - June 2006 ($ mil) Jan - Jun 2007 ($ mil) % Change
Automotives $6,469 $5,798 -10%
Pharmaceuticals $2,543 $2,730 7%
Automotive-Dealerships $2,391 $2,265 -5%
Restaurant-Quick Svc $2,043 $1,998 -2%
Motion Picture $1,802 $1,817 1%
Teleph Svcs-Wireless $1,709 $1,808 6%
Store-Dept $1,712 $1,584 -7%
Dir Response Products $1,041 $1,117 7%
Restaurant $881 $868 -2%
Store-Furniture $798 $798 0%
Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus

Product Placement

Broadcast Network Product Placement
Nielsen Product Placement Service reports an increased number of product placement occurrences in prime-time broadcast network programming for the first half of 2007, based on its Top 10 Programs Broadcast Network ranking (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW & MyNetworkTV tracked). The Top 10 programs featured 17,371 occurrences compared to 14,643 occurrences for the same time period last year. "American Idol" is once again the #1 show in terms of the number of product placements, a position it held last year. During the first half of 2007, American Idol featured 4,349 product placement occurrences vs. 4,086 occurrences for the first half of 2006. "Fast Cars and Superstars," which premiered in June of this year, zoomed into second place with 3,231 occurrences overall.

The Top 10 featured brands on prime-time broadcast network television for first half of 2007 accounted for 6,848 occurrences. An increase compared to the first half of 2006 when 6,451 brands were reported. Coca-Cola through its association with "American Idol," was the top brand once again, with 3,054 occurrences in the first half of 2007. The Pussycat Dolls Lounge Nightclubs placed second in terms of the brand with the most occurrences (750). The brand is directly linked to the show "The Pussycat Dolls Present" airing on the CW, and places in the top 5 among programs with the most product placement occurrences. The Nike apparel brand had 511 occurrences, with a majority of the occurrences on the "Amazing Race All Stars."

Cable Network Product Placement
Nielsen Product Placement Service reports a slight decrease in the number of product placement occurrences in prime-time cable network programming for the first half of 2007, based on its Top 10 Programs Cable Network ranking (A&E, HGTV, MTV, TLC & BRAVO tracked). The Top 10 programs featured 92,925 occurrences for the first half of 2007 vs 107,792 occurrences for the first half of 2006. "American Chopper," which premiered in Jan 2007, is the #1 cable network show in terms of the number of product placements, with 29,476 occurrences. "Dog the Bounty Hunter" placed second with 12,321 occurrences and "Miami Ink" placed third with 10,892 occurrences.

The Top 10 featured brands on prime-time cable network television for first half of 2007 accounted for 27,697 occurrences. A slight decrease compared to the same time period last year, when 28,271 brands were reported. Orange County Chopper apparel was the top brand with 6,118 occurrences for the first half of 2007 and the Orange County Chopper Motorcycles brand place third with 4,308 occurrences, both brands are featured on the "American Chopper" program. The Oakley Sunglasses brand placed second with 5,205 occurrences. Oakley Sunglasses are worn on the "Dog the Bounty Hunter" program.

Top 10 Programs: Product Placement Cable Network First Half 2007 , Program Network Total # Occurrences
American Chopper TLC 29,476
Dog The Bounty Hunter A&E 12,321
Miami Ink TLC 10,892
Overhaulin TLC 7,556
Driving Force A&E 6,436
American Hot Rod TLC 6,002
Runs House MTV 5,992
Real Housewives of Orange County BRAVO 4,972
Little People Big World TLC 4,892
Real World Road Rules Challenge MTV 4,456
Total 92,925
Source: Place*Views, Nielsen Product Placement Service

"Our Top 10 Program and Brand rankings for broadcast network programming are showing an increase primarily due to the new ABC show 'Fast Cars and Superstars.' This program is an example of the increased value placed on product integrations and the resulting relationships between brands and producers," said Annie Touliatos, Director, Product Development & Marketing for Nielsen Product Placement Service. "Product placement is being viewed more strategically and more frequently woven into the storyline to achieve a maximum and lasting impact. The majority of cable network product placements are on reality-based series, and there are less storyline integrations, however we consistently observe four to five times the number of occurrences on the networks tracked compared to broadcast network programming."

Top 10 Programs: Product Placement Broadcast Network First Half 2007 Program Network Total # Occurrences
American Idol FOX 4,349
Fast Cars & Superstars ABC 3,231
Amazing Race All Stars CBS 1,894
Pussycat Dolls Present CW 1,347
Extreme Makeover Home Edition ABC 1,274
The Apprentice NBC 1,230
America's Next Top Model CW 1,126
So You Think You Can Dance FOX 1,053
Beauty and the Geek CW 946
Last Comic Standing NBC 921
Total 17,371
Source: Place*Views, Nielsen Product Placement Service

Top 10 Brands: Product Placement Broadcast Network First Half 2007 Brand Total # Occurrences
Coca-Cola Soft Drinks 3,054
Pussycat Dolls Lounge Nightclub 750
Nike Apparel 511
Chicago Bears Football Team 463
Alpinestars Apparel 406
Dell Computer Systems 396
Chef Revival Apparel
351
Hewlett-Packard Computer Systems 315
Osiris Apparel 302
Boston Red Sox Baseball Team 300
Total 6,848
Source: Place*Views, Nielsen Product Placement Service

Top 10 Brands: Product Placement Cable Network First Half 2007, Brand Total # Occurrences
Orange County Choppers Apparel 6,118
Oakley Sunglasses 5,205
Orange County Choppers Motorcycles 4,308
Airgas Industrial Supplier 2,130
Nike Apparel 2,055
Sky Sport & Spa Medical Services 1,941
Protective Products Firearm Accessories
1,630
Galpin Auto Sports Shop-Vehicle Customizing 1,522
Deville Apparel 1,460
Under Armour Apparel 1,328
Total 27,697
Source: Place*Views, Nielsen Product Placement Service

About The Nielsen Company
Nielsen Monitor-Plus is a service of The Nielsen Company, a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek), trade shows and the newspaper sector (Scarborough Research). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands and New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

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