According to the data released by TNS Media Intelligence/CMR, Ad spending for the first nine months of this year increased 10.3 percent to $102.4 billion compared to the same time period in 2003. TNS reports that online ad spending posted a 25.8 percent increase to $5.5 billion.

According to TNS, local newspapers led in total dollar spending for the nine-month period with $17.7 billion in spending, up 6.6 percent over the same period in 2003.

Spending in the automotive, home furnishings/appliances, and clothing/department stores categories helped drive advertising growth in the local newspaper segment, according to TNS.

Spending on Olympic and political advertising for the first nine months of the year contributed $2.3 billion to the overall ad spending figure.

Network TV got the second biggest share of ad dollars with $16.4 billion, up 14 percent due, in part, to Olympic ad spending in the third quarter.

Nearly half of the media monitored by TNS, including outdoor, national syndication, cable TV, and consumer magazines, saw double digit percentage growth.

The top 10 advertisers for the first nine months of 2004 spent $12.6 billion, a 6.8 percent increase from the same time period in 2003, according to TNS.

Procter & Gamble was the biggest spender with a total of $2.1 billion, an increase of 6.7 percent. According to the TNS, though P&G used all major media, it spent the majority of its budget on network TV, cable, and consumer magazines.

According to TNS, Verizon's promotion of wireless and Internet services helped fuel ad spending growth.