Shanghai – MAGNAGLOBAL, a division of IPG’s Mediabrands, is releasing an updated China Media Advertising Revenue Forecast. For 2011, ad revenues are expected to rise by 18.8% to 182 billion RMB, or approximately, 28.8 billion US dollars. This firmly places China as the world’s third largest advertising market. This rapid pace of development will drive double digit growth in the media economy over the next five years. Marketers whose sales in their home countries are tepid will continue to look to China as the next frontier and invest accordingly. Global and domestic brands alike hope to capitalize on the increasing purchasing power of the growing middle class. To achieve national brand recognition, marketers typically look to media owner CCTV, the national broadcaster with the widest reach across the country. CCTV recently concluded its prime time advertising auctions, raising 12.7 billion RMB in revenues, a 15.6% increase from 2009. Often a barometer for the health of the media industry, and sometimes even the macro economy, the outcome reflects continued optimism for China’s economic future. In addition to the CCTV auction, four regional provincial satellite stations – Hunan TV, Anhui TV, Jiangsu TV and Zhejiang TV – are on schedule to conduct their own auctions this year. Overall, MAGNAGLOBAL expect TV advertising to rise by 21.4% in 2011 to total 85 billion RMB, almost 13.6 billion US dollars. Beyond TV, online is swiftly becoming a critical vehicle for marketers seeking national reach. In addition to sustained growth for display advertising, online video is taking off due in large part to content and platform investments made by top online video sites YouKu and Tudou. These sites have secured partnerships with Disney, National Geographic, and the NBA. Youku and Tudou are also planning to go public, allowing those companies to better access capital and support ongoing growth. Further, the rise of e-commerce and the development of improved payment systems are driving growth of Search. Total online advertising should grow by 29.7% in 2011.