It’s no secret that the 8pm hour generates much-needed ad dollars for broadcast TV networks. In February, ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC combined to average $21.5 million in revenue on Wednesdays from 8pm to 9pm ET. With that kind of money in play, networks are forced to balance their public service duties with financial obligations.

So what happens to advertisers who pay good money to place ads on pre-empted primetime broadcasting?

“In a situation like that, networks will find other ways to make good on their deals with advertisers,” says Annie Touliatos, VP for Sales Development at Monitor-Plus, Nielsen’s advertising intelligence service. “They can shift programming or offer to run the ad another week. They can also spread the ad buy over several spots that offer the advertiser the same level of viewer impressions. The key is for advertisers to ensure they will reach their target audiences effectively.”

New advertisers for the 2009 Awards and how many minutes they ran are listed in the chart below. Hyundai, the top advertiser, ran several general ads, as well as three 30-second spots for its Genesis brand. Sprint Nextel promoted its wireless and web access services. Bristol-Myers Squibb ran one ad for Orencia, a rheumatoid arthritis drug. National Amusements had one ad for DreamWorks Pictures’ Soloist movie, and Techtronic placed a commercial for Hoover vacuum cleaners.

In 2008, movies nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director spent more than $118.8 million (all figures quoted exclude internet and outdoor advertising) on advertising in the United States. Although neither Brad nor Angelina won for their nominated categories, their movies were the biggest spenders. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was nominated in three of the four categories, spent $31 million-more than any other movie, while Changeling, nominated in just one category, ranked second in spending: $29.6 million. Frozen River, nominated for Best Actress, spent the least, under $400,000.

Spending on movies nominated in the Best Picture and Best Director categories was $64.3 million (the same movies were nominated for both categories). In comparison, the movies in the Best Actor category spent $57.3 million on advertising, while movies for Best Actress spent $55.5.

Milk, winner of the Best Actor category, spent $11.3 million on advertising; more than double that of The Reader, the movie that nabbed the Best Actress Oscar.

Despite a continued softening of the economy, several media showed healthy growth in advertising for the first half.  Advertising on Cable TV (+8.1%), Syndication TV (+7.2%), and National Sunday Supplements (+7.2%) saw the largest growth, according to Nielsen.  Spot Radio fared worst among the 19 media categories analyzed by Nielsen (-10.1%). 

Although overall Internet ad spending, when including paid search and online video advertising, was up by 11% during the first half of this year, image-based Internet advertising declined by 6% during the first half of 2008, compared to the same period in 2007.

Among specific product categories, Credit Card Services (+18.95%) and Direct Response Products (+20.48%) showed the strongest ad spending gains, while the Automotive (-.01%), Pharmaceutical (-4.76%), and Motion Picture (-4.64%) categories recorded the largest advertising declines.

The decrease in image-based Internet advertising was driven by a 27% drop in online ad spending by financial services companies, which decreased their spending from $1.5 billion in the first half of 2007 to $1.1 billion during the first two quarters of this year. 

Other industries — entertainment (+47%), automotive (+45%), and consumer goods (+32%) — showed strong increases in image-based online advertising during the first half of 2008.

View the full press release.

View Nielsen Online’s report on first half 2008 online ad spending.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in Wired, Investment News, the Financial Times, Crain’s New York Business, TV Week, Broadcasting & Cable, MediaPost, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, and Mediaweek.