Ad Market: Nightmare Dead Ahead

If you think we are going to get out of this mess in a hurry, think again.

UBS analyst Matthieu Coppet today cut his expectations for advertising spending for this year, next year and 2010. He now sees overall spend up 3.7 percent this year, down 3.9 percent next year, and then up three percent in 2010. His old forecast: up 4.1 percent, then down 0.7 percent, then up 4.8 percent.

Particularly sobering is his forecast for the U.S., where he sees an 8.7 percent drop in spending next year, including an 11 percent decline in “traditional media”–print, broadcast and outdoor. That would be the worst year for those categories in 60 years.

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