The latest adspend figures follow a buoyant upfront season last month when Nielsen Media Research said that US spend was up by 7%.
The new figures, also from Nielsen Media, paint an even rosier picture for 2004 as confidence in the US economy further helps US adspend outpace forecasts. Part of the explanation for the unexpected surge is comparisons with last year, which was hurt by the uncertainty over a possible war in Iraq hitting adspend confidence.
Nielsen said that adspend increased to $31.5bn (£17.1bn) with nearly every sector showing a rise. Among the most obvious sign of an improved outlook is in network TV, which still remains king in the US and elsewhere when it comes to advertising spend.
The better-than-expected first quarter has been helped by big marketers such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, which have each invested heavily in new launches such as their mid-calorie colas -- Pepsi Edge and Coke C2.
The cola wars are not the only ones to have contributed to increased spending. Anheuser-Busch and Miller Lite have both stepped up to the plate in a war of words over their respective low-carb beers. Earlier this week, Budweiser had to amend ads that said "Miller is owned by South African Breweries" and called Miller the "Queen of Beers".
Procter & Gamble, Nissan and General Motors have also increased spending, with GM reported to have boosted spend by some 20% with investment centring on Chevrolet's new "American Revolution" ads.
The US Presidential elections have already accounted for more than $200m, with polling day still a long way off in November. Eventual spend could hit $1.3bn. The Olympic Games is set to be worth more than $1.5bn with NBC alone netting a record-breaking $1bn.
Earlier predictions for 2004 has suggested that spend would rise between 5% and 8%. Rival research firm TNS has forecast 7.8%, but it now says it will raise its estimate.
Steven Fredericks, chief executive of TNS, told Reuters: "When we do the analytics, we're going to see full-year certainly looking higher than we currently estimated."
"In our forecast, we thought the second half would be stronger than the first half," he said. "Olympic spending and, clearly, political advertising is stepping up."
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