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Procter & Gamble, the UK’s largest advertiser, has slashed its

spend on TV ads by 25% for the first half of this year.

P&G’s spend is forecast to be down by pounds 12.5m year on year across

all TV. Of that figure, pounds 8m has come out of ITV, according to TV

sales operations.

However, P&G’s support for its tissue brands, including Tempo and

Bounty, is understood to be unaffected. The company is also investing

heavily in TV for its recently launched Charmin toilet tissue. Last year

it also spent heavily on Sunny Delight.

Inflation in TV prices as a result of the influx of dotcom advertisers

is thought to be one factor in P&G’s decision to slash its TV

advertising.

However, the company is thought to be cutting back on media across the

board. In March, P&G’s US headquarters warned that its focus on sales

growth would see a 10%-11% drop in third-quarter earnings per share.

Last year, Procter & Gamble was the UK’s top-spending advertiser, with a

total of pounds 165m (Marketing, March 2). Of this, pounds 134m went on

TV.

Some broadcasters are so concerned by the reduction in P&G’s spend in

the first half of this year that they are seeking urgent talks with

Bernard Balderston, P&G associate director of UK media.

MMS figures for the first two months of this year confirm the trend,

showing that the FMCG giant’s spend on television was down 19.4% year on

year from pounds 18.m to pounds 14.6m.

However, demand for airtime from dotcom companies means that

broadcasters have been cushioned from the effect of the cutbacks.

One TV source described ad revenues as ’buoyant’ with the next quarter

expected to be up by 12%-13% across the TV market.

Both Balderston and Starcom Motive, which handles TV buying for the

company, refused to comment.