I thought this was interesting in comparison to some of the other stories posted recently on year end advertising revenue totals in newspapers and magazines. From BroadcastingCable.com. full story here

Forecast: Local TV Brings In $18.5 Billion In 2010

Sanguine year for stations, thanks to political, and '11 doesn't look that bad

By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/20/2010 2:05:59 PM

Local television ad revenues are expected to hit $18.5 billion this year, a 17% increase from stations' 2009 revenue totals, according to BIA/Kelsey. Not surprisingly, a banner political year and strong automotive advertising has paced stations to a very healthy 2010.

Top markets for 2010 revenue gains include Denver, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota, West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce and Chicago.

The $18.5 billion haul outpaces the $17 billion BIA/Kelsey forecasted in April.

The 2009 total was $15.6 billion.

Without hot election races next year, BIA/Kelsey forecasts an 8% decline in revenue for 2011. But this year's strong showing bodes well for 2012 and beyond.

"We have become more bullish for the local television markets over the next decade, particularly as political advertising will continue to be significant in the even-numbered years, when we can expect heated campaigns to take place," said Mark Fratrik, Ph.D., vice president of BIA/Kelsey. "This year was an affirmation that local television is still vital to any ad campaign, and we anticipate that this won't go unnoticed by the larger nationwide retailers."

Fratrik says the multiplatform attack that's central to stations' strategy has them well poised for revenue gains long-term.

"Television broadcasters are making significant progress in enhancing their off-air revenue sources, particularly online, through hyperlocal sites and mobile applications," he said. "The blend of traditional media with the targeting of online and mobile media creates a powerful opportunity for revenue generation."

From MediaWeek. Full Story Here. But don't get too excited, if you are in print.

Broadcast TV will reap the lion’s share at $2.2 billion or 67 percent of the total, with $2 billion going to local TV, $150 million to cable and $50 million to network TV. Direct mail will get $650 million or 20 percent of the ad spend, followed by radio at $250 million or 8 percent, and newspaper at $95 million or 3 percent. Outdoor and the Internet are forecast to reach $55 million and $50 million, respectively.

Here is more:

"Political advertising will hit $3.3 billion in 2010, an 11 percent increase over 2008 (but a 4 percent decrease from 2006), according to a Wells Fargo Securities report released Wednesday (Oct. 21).

The ad windfall, more than 60 percent of which will go to local TV, will be fueled by the election of 37 governors, 38 senators, every member of the House of Representatives and issue advertising (which could approach $1 billion) on hot-button issues such as health care.

The factors affecting the 2010 forecast are similar to those that made 2006 ad spend of $3.4 billion a record year for political advertising."

This from TNS Media Intelligence: 

Total measured advertising expenditures in the first quarter of 2009 plunged 14.2% vs. a year ago, to $30.18 billion, according to data released today by TNS Media Intelligence. This plunge followed a 9.2% decline in Q408 as the advertising recession accelerated into the new year.

Ad Spending by Medium

Local media suffered most, with aggregate expenditures sinking 25.4% in Q109, TNS said. The rate of decline was similar across Spot TV (-27.5%), Local Newspapers (-25.1%) and Local Radio (-26.8%). Each of these segments was severely affected by deep spending cutbacks in core categories such as automotive, retail and local services.

For national media, combined ad spending fell 8.5% vs. a year ago. Within this segment, performance was sharply defined along the lines of print vs. TV vs. online.

National Newspapers (-28.5%), B2B Magazines (-25.5%), Consumer Magazines (-19.2%) and other print media were clustered together in terms of their percentage decreases as their revenue declines were driven by fewer ad pages, according to the data.

Read the full story here.