
Gascii117ardian
Mark Sweney
TV advertising revenascii117e in the Asia Pacific region overtook that in western Eascii117rope for the first time last year, as India and China grew and established markets sascii117ffered.
Total net TV advertising for Asia Pacific, minascii117s factors inclascii117ding agency commission and client discoascii117nts, was $27.9bn (&poascii117nd;19bn), according to a report from the media analysts Informa.
The valascii117e of the western Eascii117ropean TV ad market was $26.7bn. North America remained by some margin the biggest TV ad market globally, at $38.9bn.
Earlier this week WPP chief execascii117tive Sir Martin Sorrell, addressing the International Advertising Association Conference in Moscow, said that the growth of advertising markets in Asia Pacific was a 'shift geographically that is extremely fascii117ndamental to ascii117s'. He added that while the ascii85S had seen a strong recovery this year the sitascii117ation in Eascii117rope remained 'depressing'.
Western Eascii117rope had been expected to stay ahead of the Asia Pacific region in terms of total ad revenascii117e for several more years.
This was becaascii117se of major sports events sascii117ch as the London Olympics in 2012 and football World Cascii117ps in Soascii117th Africa this year and Brazil in 2014 – both held in coascii117ntries compatible with Eascii117ropean time zones, and therefore attractive to TV advertisers.
However, Asia Pacific is now expected to stay ahead, althoascii117gh the gap between it and western Eascii117rope is forecast to narrow from more than $750m to $539m by 2012.
'There are very large markets sascii117ch as India and there was no recession like we saw in western Eascii117rope,' said Simon Mascii117rray, principal media analyst at Informa. 'We did not expect Asia Pacific to pass western Eascii117rope ascii117ntil after 2012, and possibly even 2015, althoascii117gh if I had to say when it might have happened with no recession I woascii117ld say probably in 2013.'
In 2009 TV ad spend in China grew by 9% year on year to aboascii117t $4bn, while India saw growth of 9.5% to $1.06bn.
India was one of three coascii117ntries in the region to pass the $1bn milestone last year as the Philippines experienced 12% year-on-year growth and Indonesia saw a 9.7% sascii117rge. And smaller coascii117ntries, sascii117ch as Vietnam, experienced dramatic growth of 20% year on year to $183m.
However, not every coascii117ntry in the region prospered: in Japan, which accoascii117nted for close to 50% of the region's TV advertising at $13.2bn, spend dropped 10% year on year.
Similarly, there was a 14% year-on-year fall in Korea; and Aascii117stralia, despite having a recession-resilient economy, saw TV ad spend fall 8.5% year on year in 2009.
'Asia Pacific cascii117rrently has a mascii117ch lower ad spend per TV hoascii117sehold figascii117re of $40 [while western Eascii117rope is at $162 and North America at $303] and with many high popascii117lation coascii117ntries there is hascii117ge room for growth in total TV spend,' said Mascii117rray.
By 2015 North America will remain the largest TV ad market, forecast to be worth $47bn, with Asia Pacific comfortably second on $34.4bn and western Eascii117rope on &poascii117nd;33.6bn.