Global events prompt advertising downgrades

ZenithOptimedia has downgraded TV advertising forecasts in the wake of the political and social unrest in the Middle East and the earthquake in Japan.

The media agency says that global ad expenditure will increase 4.2% this year, having previously forecast a 4.6% uptick.
 Zenith noted that the immediate impact of the Middle East unrest on TV advertising – there was, for example, no TV advertising at all in Egypt throughout the country’s uprising.

In Japan, advertising slots were replaced with public service announcements for weeks after the earthquake. 


“We do not expect these shocks to derail the global recovery in the long term, however,” Zenith noted. “We expect some of the missing advertising to reappear later in the year, followed by strong growth in these markets in 2012 thanks to the easy comparison with the first quarter of this year. Japan is forecast to shrink 4.1% this year then grow 4.6% next year, while Egypt follows this year’s 20.0% drop with 12.1% recovery in 2012.” 


By medium, TV will continue to take the largest share of advertising revenues globally, with internet in second, usurping newspapers.