Media Chiefs See Ad Biz Bottom; Data Doesn't

The advertising recession continues apace, according to new data released this past week, but media bosses have been striving to say otherwise.

Industry research groups Nielsen and TNS Media both released first-quarter ad-spending figures recently that showed precipitous declines across almost all categories -- print, radio, television, billboards.

According to TNS, which put out its numbers Wednesday, total newspaper ad spending fell 25.5%, radio fell 26% (which differed sharply from Nielson's estimate of a 12.6% decline in network radio), magazines dropped 20.5% and television retreated 9.7%, all compared with the year-earlier period. In sum, media companies took in $5 billion less in the first three months of 2009 than they did in 2008. ...