AT&T’s advertising spend shrinks in Q1

Telecom giant AT&T Inc. was the nation’s second-largest advertiser during the first quarter, according to TNS Media Intelligence, second only to multinational manufacturer Procter & Gamble Co., which makes a range of products including household cleaning items and laundry detergents.
TNS found AT&T spent around $512 million on advertising in the first quarter, below the $722 million Procter & Gamble spent. AT&T’s figure was actually down from the $634 million AT&T spent in the same period last year. TNS attributed the 19.2% drop to AT&T’s massive re-branding campaign launched last year following SBC Communications Inc.’s acquisition of AT&T.
Verizon Communications Inc. clocked in as the nation’s No. 4 spender with $459 million, a figure that was up slightly from its spending during the first quarter of 2006. Sprint Nextel Corp. came in eighth, with $340 million, also up slightly from the same period a year ago.
TNS’ numbers cover a variety of forms of advertising, including TV, radio, magazines, the Internet and other mediums.