Last year was the worst on record for the Australian advertising industry. Total ad revenue was down eight per cent on the previous year to AUS$12.57billion and 2009 is being described as the ‘blackest year for advertising revenue’ by the Commercial Economic Advisory Service of Australia (CEASA).

CEASA chief executive, Bernard Holt, said: "It only confirms what we already knew: 2009 was the blackest year for advertising revenue since I first compiled figures in 1960. It was confirmation, too, of the effects of the world economic crisis which, according to many commentators, still has a distance to go internationally.

"The previous worst drop was in 2001 when advertising revenue went down by six per cent."

But it could have been worse – developed markets such as Britain and the United States saw revenues fall by 12.7 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

In Australia, print media bore the brunt of the declines in ad revenue, with newspapers as a whole down -15.7 per cent and magazines dropping -18.1 per cent. Classified directories (not including The Trading Post) were down -4.9 per cent. Free-to-air television was down -7.6 per cent, radio by -3.6 per cent, outdoor by -11.9 per cent and cinema by -8 per cent.

But there were some increases – 9.4 per cent for online revenue and 4.9 per cent for subscription television.

And hopes are high for 2010 – Harold Mitchell, head of Australian media buyer Mitchell Communications Group, has forecast that the total advertising market will rise by five per cent this year.