Advertising outlets are expanding as emerging Internet, interactive and satellite radio line up alongside old media. But Kagan Research finds total advertising revenue � a measure of upward movement � lackluster, which indicates a divide between the haves and have-nots.
Some old-media segments are stagnating, which pulls down the total revenue average. The new-media segments � Internet and satellite radio, for example � are fast growing, but remain small or medium-size slices of the $240 billion U.S. advertising pie (gross billings in 2005 for both national and local).
There's another divide along the same line. The ability to measure audiences in new media is superior, given digital data is in computer-like binary code that is easy to capture and sort. Analog media such as magazines and newspapers don't directly generate such digital data.
"Advertisers are skittish about old media for which it is difficult to measure audience size and track consumer activities," notes Kagan Research senior analyst Derek Baine. For example, radio still relies on listeners filling out personal diaries by making hand-written entries on paper, although a new 'electronic survey' technology is being tested. In contrast, on the Internet consumers are clicking links and making purchases that can be monitored�sometimes on an individual consumer basis�from a specific advertisement.