The Evolving Newsroom

Analysts are forecasting online ad spend will surpass TV ad spend in the UK by 2009. The study, by Group M, the media planning and buying agency owned by advertising heavyweight WPP Group, projects a 31% increase in online spend this year versus a 1% rise in TV ad spend.

Emarketer notes that the UK media picture is unusual: "For one thing, the print sector remains pretty healthy. Also, the phenomenal rise of the internet has encouraged significant spending on the Web by UK advertisers, and hard evidence of online successes breeds further investment.

"Moreover, the dominance of television as an advertising vehicle is less pronounced in the UK, because TV programming is not funded by advertising to the same extent that it is in the US and elsewhere."

But it's still a sea change and although Emarketer's projections are slightly different, it agrees that online spending will overtake TV within two years.

Emarketer reports that six out of 10 broadband users watch video online at least once a week. The good news for broadcasters is that "70% of internet users surveyed who watched television online did so because they had missed the programme when it was on TV. Nearly one in five said they watched TV online to watch programmes again, after having seen them first on a television set."

The report is based on research by US company Horowitz Associates, who noted: "The data suggest that broadband video is not cannibalistic to linear video, but rather an enhancement to consumers' traditional TV experience."