Detroit has been at the forefront of the economic recession and can serve as “the poster child for the challenges of television advertising,” BIAfn analyst Mark Fratrik tells TVNewsday. The main reason for the hardship in the area has been the troubled automotive industry, which has led the Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn area to the biggest unemployment rate in the country with 10.1%, the site says. TV stations in Michigan also expected high levels of political advertising this year, since it had been deemed a battleground state, until John McCain basically conceded the state and political ad dollars went elsewhere, TVNewsday adds.
—Sergio Ibarra