Media buyers warn ad budget cuts may be ahead

Chicago—About 7% of advertisers cut ad budgets and 11% warned of budget cuts in the wake of the financial gyrations that followed the U.S. debt downgrade, according to an online survey of media buyers conducted this month by Strata, which markets media buying software.

Media buyers responding to Strata's survey said that 82% planned no immediate changes to their budgets. If cuts were made to ad budgets, 50% of media buyers said that spot TV would be cut and 40% said print was likely to be cut.