UK advertising spend to fall 14 pct in '09-study

LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) - Spending on advertising in Britain is forecast to fall 14 percent this year, according to a leading media group, with print media suffering the heaviest downward revision.

Group M said it now expected advertising spending on newspapers to be down 26 percent from a previous prediction of down 20 percent, after a heavy fall in classified advertising placed in regional newspapers.

The media industry has been hit in recent years by adverts moving to the Internet and this has been compounded by the recession which has reduced spending from sectors such as retail, employment and the auto industry.

"Thanks to recession and Internet substitution, we think print classified will raise 718 million pounds in 2009, a 40 percent drop from 2008 and 60 percent lower than its 1,817 million pound peak in 2004," the report said.

"Our forecast for 2009 consumer magazines ad investment falls from minus 16 percent in March to minus 20 percent now as circulations fall but supply still outstrips advertiser demand."

Group M, which serves as parent company to WPP Plc's (WPP.L) media agencies including MediaCom and Mindshare, said it hoped to see some sort of recovery in 2010 but assumed consumer demand would remain weak for at least another year.

"No previous ad recession has put household media names at risk like this one has, from local newspapers to high-street magazines to national TV channels," the report said, though it did note one potential ray of light.

"Another wild card which could potentially accelerate advertising recovery, as it has in the past, is advertisers anticipating consumer recovery by returning en masse to the media markets." (Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by David Holmes)