TVB said key categories to watch in 2005 included automotive, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, financial services/credit cards, and issue advertising.

In 2000 TVB began issuing two-year forecasts instead of its traditional one-year forecast. "The structure of the business has changed dramatically because of the Olympics switching to a two-year frequency and because of the growth of political advertising in Spot," said TVB President Chris Rohrs. "Odd years will always face tough comparisons to even years, when spending on both the Olympics and political ads show up. Spot TV is a two-year business cycle."

TVB's predictions for 2006 were as follows:

TVB estimates -- derived from a consensus of Wall Street and financial analysts, station representative firms, and independent TVB research -- represent national averages. Individual firms and stations may produce varied results based on a number of factors, including market size, region of the country, and affiliation.  The not-for-profit Television Bureau of Advertising (www.tvb.org) is the trade association of local television broadcasters. Its members include television broadcast groups, advertising sales rep firms, and over 500 individual television stations.