ZenithOptimedia Frightens the Children With Forecast of Adspend Declines

ZenithOptimedia has reduced its ad spend forecast for 2009. In December it said the year would see a 0.2 percent decline, per Adweek, but now it's calling for a 7 percent decline. Only the internet will get extra ad dollars, Reuters points out, with spending rising 8.6 percent. ClickZ notes that estimate has come down from an in-hindsight-delusional forecast of a 20.9 percent increase.

TV will also benefit in terms of share:

Television, still the most popular medium with advertisers, will increase its share of advertising budgets to 38.6 percent from 38.1 percent as cash-strapped consumers spend more time at home watching TV and advertisers stick to what they know and trust.

UK-based media research firm Screen Digest, however, predicts a 5 percent drop in U.S. online advertising this year, after growth fell to 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from 15 percent in the first nine months.