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LIKE OTHER MARKETS WITH A HEAVY CONCENTRATION OF DOT-COM AND HIGH-TECH businesses, Portland has seen its local economy suffer since many of these companies either went belly up or dramatically reduced their workforces two years ago. Even with the slowdown in the sector, Portland remains home to more than 1,000 technology companies; one of the market's largest employers is chipmaker Intel Corp. Other companies with a substantial presence in the market (population 3.2 million) are Nike, based in suburban Beaverton, and Providence Health System.
Portland, known as the "City of Roses," boasts more than 100 square miles of rose-bordered streets. The area this month is celebrating the Portland Rose Festival, held each spring since 1907.
Decreased production and lay-offs in the local tech industry and the sluggish overall national economy have taken their toll on Portland. Oregon is scrambling to close an estimated $720 million shortfall in its current budget. In April, the state's unemployment rate of 8 percent was the highest in the entire U.S., according to the Oregon State Employment Department.
Many national and local advertisers have curtailed their spending in the market, awaiting a recovery. In the first quarter of this year,. total spot-TV ad sales in the Portland market declined about 3 percent, according to Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co., although local station executives report that second-quarter spot sales are tracking at a slight increase over last year.
"Portland has been hit hard by the economy. Our advertising marketplace is at or around 1997 levels right now," says Paul Fry, president and general manager of Belo Corp.'s NBC affiliate KGW-TV, the market's news leader. "The bottom dropped out in 2001, because of the dot-coms and 9/11," Fry says, and the market has not been been able to pull itself out of the hole.
"Our cost-per-point average is still way below what it should be for a market this size," Fry says. Automotive spending has remained fairly consistent, which has helped offset declines in other categories.
Oregon is shaping up as a key state in the 2004 presidential election, which should provide a lift in ad spending. "I think we're still at least a year away from seeing any real positive change," Fry predicts.
Following the collapse of 2001, media spending in...