Swiss advertising sales fell in 2008 for the first time in four years

Advertising sales in Switzerland fell slightly in 2008 for the first time in four years. They fell by 1.3 percent to CHF 5.796 billion. The print media recorded a decline in advertising revenue of 3.3 percent to CHF 2.4 billion, as reported by the Swiss Advertising Statistics Foundation on Wednesday. Of this, CHF 1.2 billion went to the daily press, 8 percent less than in the previous year. The Sunday press, on the other hand, increased by 10.3 percent as a result of newly launched titles. Income from job advertisements shrank by 4.5 percent to CHF 350 million. Within the daily press, more and more advertising francs are going to the free newspapers, continuing a trend that has been going on for years. Since 2002, the share of revenue generated by free commuter newspapers has risen from 13.5 to 18.7 percent.
A total of CHF 628 million was received for television advertising and sponsorship of programs. Compared to the previous year, this represents a slight decrease of 1.4 percent. Cinema advertising fell significantly by 9.1 percent to CHF 30 million. In contrast, more money flowed into out-of-home advertising, as the foundation also reported. Advertising sales here rose by 3.2 percent to CHF 684 million. However, the Advertising Statistics Foundation was unable to determine reliable figures for online advertising.
The moderate decline recorded in 200 will intensify considerably in 2009, said Rolf Blum, project manager for the survey on Wednesday in Zurich. The print media will be particularly affected, Blum added.

At www.werbestatistik.ch the brochure with the detailed results can be downloaded as a PDF.