Merrill Lynch Downgrades Ad Outlook

october 2, 2003  03:41 am
Signaling yet another mixed signal for the ad spending outlook, the ad industry equities research team at Merrill Lynch Wednesday issued a report revising the firm's advertising forecasts down from earlier predictions. The move follows a modest upward revision made recently by Zenith Optimedia Group, as well as a MediaPost survey of media planners and buyers that pointed to a markedly lower traditional ad spending outlook for 2004 than those issued by major forecasters including Zenith and Universal McCann.