TV overtakes Internet on advertising in UK

Television regained its place as the UK's largest medium for advertisers in the first half of this year, after being overtaken by online advertising last year.

According to figures released on Tuesday by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, spending on Internet advertising increased by 10 per cent in the first half of the year, to £1.67bn ($2.64bn). The growth rate has picked up from last year, when online spending rose 4.2 per cent, but has fallen behind that of TV and other traditional media for the first time. Television advertising rose 16 per cent in the same period. As a result, TV was the largest medium with a 25.5 per cent share of advertising spending, followed by Internet on 24.3 per cent and press display on 17.9 per cent. TV was not the only traditional medium to bounce back faster than the Internet, which has been the fastest-growing form of advertising for many years. Cinema gained 12 per cent and outdoor was up 16 per cent, according to the IAB/PwC report, though both fell further than online last year. Press classified, direct mail and directories continued to decline. The total market grew by 6.3 per cent in the first six months of the year.