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Total advertising expenditures in 2006 increased 4.1 percent to $149.6 billion as compared to 2005, according to data released today by TNS Media Intelligence, the leading provider of strategic advertising and marketing information. Ad spending during the fourth quarter of 2006 was up by 4.2 percent against the same period in 2005.

“Total advertising expenditures continue to expand slowly. Excluding the cyclical contributions from special events such as political elections and the Olympics, core growth is tracking in the range of 3 percent,” said Steven Fredericks, president and CEO of TNS Media Intelligence. “In the near-term, we foresee no significant changes to underlying fundamentals that would move the overall ad market onto a different track. Our most recent forecast of 2.6 percent growth for 2007, while conservative, still seems appropriate.”

Ad Spending By Media

Internet display advertising registered a 17.3 percent increase to $9.76 billion as marketers continued to shift budgets towards targeted, digital media. Spot TV, boosted by record-setting levels of political advertising, was up 10.4 percent for 2006 to $17.23 billion. In the fourth quarter, which contained the last five weeks leading up to Election Day, Spot TV expenditures jumped 20.7 percent.

Performance in other parts of the TV marketplace was muted by a second-half slowdown. Network TV finished 2006 with $22.88 billion in expenditures, an improvement of just 2.5 percent against 2005. Cable Network ad spending rose 3.4 percent to $16.75 billion. Syndication was virtually flat at $4.24 billion.

Radio experienced a fourth quarter uptick and moved into positive growth territory for the year with $11.05 billion in spending, a rise of 0.3 percent. Softening ad page counts for Consumer Magazines trimmed revenue growth to 4.6 percent, at $23.19 billion for 2006. Local Newspapers saw expenditures for their print editions fall by 3.3 percent to $24.06 billion.