Upcoming William-Kate nuptials give big fillip to UK TV advertising
04 Feb 2011
The upcoming wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton has pushed television advertising spending in the UK up 18 per cent for April 2011, while spending in the first quarter of 2011 has surpassed expectations.
Leading media agencies have reportedly told The Telegraph newspaper they have seen a year-on-year expenditure rise of 7-8 per cent in the first quarter of this year.
The figures show that the VAT increase to 20 per cent and a cut in government marketing budgets have not hindered the television advertising market, with advertisers expecting that consumers will keep spending.
WPP's Group M, which has a dominant position in the UK TV market, said advertising revenues for April were up 18 per cent. The fact that the Easter bank holiday falls in April is also responsible for the spending boom.
February saw the biggest rise of 13 per cent, while Group M said TV advertising spend rose 6 per cent in January and 3 per cent in March.
ITV, the commercial broadcaster, and media forecasters warned last year that the state of the economy made it difficult to predict advertising spends in 2011.
