Figures show UK ad spend down 4%

The drop compares with an overall uplift of 4.3% in 2007.

Press (newspapers and magazines) was the overall biggest spending category, hitting £6.8bn in 2008, but down 11.8% year on year.

Television, the second-biggest spending category, registered a spend of £4.4bn, down 4.9% over the period.

Internet spend came in at £3.6bn and registered by far the biggest uplift of all categories, up 19.1%.

Radio was down 8.5% to £488m, outdoor and transport fell 3.8% to £1bn, while cinema nudged up 1% to £205m.