Splitting Hairs

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10 March 2010 13:18

Online ad spend in US expected to beat print in 2010

But SA is still woefully undervalued.

EAST LONDON - Online advertising spend is expected to outstrip print advertising this year in the US, according to a survey of advertisers.

The Financial Times reported this week that online spending is expected to rise 9.6% to $119.6bn while print ad spend will decrease 3% to $111.5bn, according to a survey of 1 000 advertisers by Outsell publishing research company. The advertisers say they are spending more of their marketing budgets on web-search ads, their own websites and "webinars" - web conferencing used for live meetings, training or presentations on the internet.

If the $119.6bn seems an outrageously large figure to Netizens in South Africa, it's worth ...

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08 March 2010 07:12

Stricter regulations loom for SA sports broadcast rights

A case of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

EAST LONDON - A move by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) to regulate the highly lucrative business of sports broadcasting rights came closer to policy last week as the deadline for submission on Icasa's "preliminary findings and conclusions" closed on Friday.

The arena for this battle - and don't let anyone tell you that it isn't a battle - has been Icasa and though the submissions to the regulator from the public and stakeholders are as dry as toast, blood pressure is up on all sides. The money is big and the stakes are high.

On the one hand, there is the government's determination not to allow pay-TV operations to acquire exclusive rights to broadcast national s...

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01 March 2010 00:02

Nielsen figures show who won and who lost in recession

Femina’s closure was inevitable.

EAST LONDON - Marketing budgets are one of the first things to get slashed in tough times and last year everyone in media - from print to TV - felt the pain as advertising revenue diminished drastically. With the mid-year Soccer World Cup looming, everyone in SA media circles is expecting ad spend to pick up this year but, for many, it will be a slowing of the decline rather than moving into back into positive territory.

If last year was an annus horribilus, this year is a sober clawing back to profitabilty as most have got their costs under control but the effects of 2009 will be felt for a long time to come. For evidence of just how awful 2009 was, look no further than the recently released AdEx figures from Nielsen, which is an annual review of advertising spend for media org...

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