GM seen not buying advertising for 2009 Oscars

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. automaker General Motors has pulled out of its longtime sponsorship of the Academy Awards, one of the biggest annual events on broadcast television, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The move, which comes amid a sharp downturn in automotive advertising on television, will leave Walt Disney's ABC without one of its biggest advertisers for Oscar night in February, the paper said.

The auto maker has long been one of the biggest spenders on the star-studded program, the paper said, adding that it paid out $13.5 million (7.2 million pounds) for advertising time on the broadcast this past February, according to TNS Media Intelligence.

"It is a great property, but it simply didn't fit into our plans for 2009," the Wall Street Journal cited a GM spokeswoman saying.

GM was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Megan Davies; Editing by Louise Heavens)