TV advertising to begin recovery in 2008

The television advertising market will start growing in 2008, according to a report published by ZenithOptimedia. The media agency joins the growing number of experts to claim that the TV market is recovering.

The agency says the market will “stabilise” this year and it predicts “modest” growth of 2% in 2008, with further growth of 1% to 2% a year. But its also report that market share will decline from 27.2% in 2006 to 22.7% in 2012.

The report says that ad revenues generated by the digital offshoots of the main terrestrial channels will help offset declining performances of ITV1, C4 and Five in 2007.

But ITV’s four digital channels are not growing fast enough to make up for ITV1’s decline: ad revenue at the flagship channel is expected to be down 7% year-on-year – roughly £90m – and for revenues to shrink by 4% across all the ITV-branded channels.

The agency predicts that revenues from Channel 4’s flagship channel will decline 2% in 2007, although growth of its digital channels E4, More4 and Film4 should bolster the group’s fortunes with ad revenues across the board growing by 1%.

The performance of Five Life and Five US should turn a 3% drop in revenue at the main channel to a 2% increase for the group as a whole.

Last month Viacom Brand Solutions managing director Nick Bampton predicted TV ad spend would rise this year, despite a sluggish start to the year and forecasts to the contrary (MW June 14). Other sales houses and agencies are predicting either a stable market or a fall of up to 1%.