Spending On Cable Ads Rose 17% In 2003.

Annual spending on national/network cable TV advertising rose to an all-time high $12.7 billion in calendar year 2003—a gain of 16.7 percent versus the year before, according to a Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of StrADegy data. The additional $1.82 billion spent on national/network cable advertising in ’03 accounted for two-thirds of the combined gains of all sources of national TV combined: cable, broadcast and syndication.

Cable’s share of all national/network TV ad spending in 2003 was 34.1 percent, up from 31.5 percent the previous year. Broadcast TV’s share, on the other hand, slipped to 56.8 percent in ’03 from 60.0 percent the year before. Syndication’ share increased to 9.1 percent from 8.5 percent.

Among all individual advertisers, Procter & Gamble recorded the largest increase in cable TV ad spending in calendar year 2003—investing $128.3 million more than it did in 2002. Among all individual advertisers spending more than $50 million on cable in ’03, pharmaceutical marketer Novartis posted the largest percentage increase in cable outlays—158.0 percent, with its annual spending rising to $98.2 million from the previous year’s $38.0 million.

The top grossing national/network cable TV product category in 2003 was automotive ($1.1 billion, up 13.1 percent), followed by medicines & proprietary remedies ($810.6 million, up 23.5 percent).

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