Losing Your Media Job? Blame the Car Companies and Their Shrinking Ad Budgets
by Peter Kafka
Posted on November 20, 2008 at 5:23 AM PT
Looking for a place to focus your frustration after getting pink-slipped from your media job? Try blaming the American consumer for not buying more cars in the last year. And car companies for spending less to convince them.
Car companies cut their ad spending by 10 percent, to $6.1 billion, through the first half of the year, according to Nielsen’s ad tracking service. That confirms anecdotal evidence media companies have been offering up throughout the year, and it means that the numbers for the second half of the year–when the economy really collapsed–are going to be brutal.
Which goes a long way toward explaining why everyone–from Time Warner’s Time Inc. (TWX) to GE’s (GE) NBC to every Web start-up you can think of–is looking at dwindling ad revenue for the foreseeable future.
And yes, you can point your finger most accusingly at Detroit, if that makes you feel better: While some imports, like Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC), actually kept spending steady or increased it, the formerly Big 3 all made big cuts. General Motors (GM), the country’s biggest auto ad buyer, dropped spending six percent; Ford (F) and Chrysler dropped 22 percent each.
MediaPost has the full gory details.
[Image Credit: Hauke Sandhaus]
Follow Peter on Twitter | Follow AllThingsD on Twitter
Comments
I’ve got a better idea. Let’s blame the Democrat-led Congress. They couldn’t get the votes of their own members to offer a LOAN (not a bailout) to Detroit. If I was any of these CEO guys who were ridiculed and sent home to write a plan, I’d say, forget it, let’s go broke and let the Democrats take the fall. Including the Michigan governor and all the other Dems who have run Michigan for decades.
Posted by Doug Ferguson at November 21st, 2008 at 9:06 am