The Australian Ad Market Records Steep Drop As Non-Olympic Sponsors Held Back From Spending

The Olympics effect "led to a steep drop in bookings from advertisers last month as brands pulled money out of the market," according to Darren Davidson of THE AUSTRALIAN. The "total market in August fell 14% to A$566M" ($593.7M), according to research firm Standard Media Index based on data from media agencies that buy advertising space for clients. Advertisers not associated with the London Games "held back from spending" through fear of being drowned out by big budget campaigns from the official sponsors. Aegis Media Exec Chair Harold Mitchell said that the fall in overall advertising spend "was a surprise in an Olympics month, and warned there was no sign of a recovery in the local advertising market in the near term." Mitchell said, "In a stronger Olympics year we would have expected to see an increase because we've seen that before. We're not expecting this to improve before the end of the year." The Nine Network, the Olympic broadcaster, "had an uplift in August," with its share of bookings increasing to 44.7%, from 32.7% in August last year (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/18).