CCTV ad spending commitments for 2011 up 16%

More than 250 foreign and domestic advertising companies will spend US$1.91 billion for advertising on China Central Television (CCTV) next year, the Wall Street Journal reported. The figure reached at the station’s annual auction is 16% higher than total spending for this year, and was led by China Mengniu Dairy (2319.HK), which committed to US$34.51 million in advertising spending to sponsor half a year of drama programming. CCTV has increased its ad rates by about 20% for next year, compared with increases of more than 40% at other domestic networks. Most of next year’s advertising spending on CCTV will come from home-appliance companies, the food and beverage industry, and financial services.