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Media rivals in newspapers and television are on the warpath claiming they score best in a market with more media chasing tightened advertising budgets.
The Newspaper Advertising Bureau has acknowledged that television is maintaining advertising revenue better, but their more abrupt slide does not affect their higher effect on consumers.
The Television Broadcasters Council says that - with the utmost respect to their print colleagues - television has a bigger impact on sales.
Advertising analysts dismissed the jousting media bosses, saying effective impact is notoriously hard to prove.
Both newspapers and television had a tough advertising market in 2008.
Last week the TBC reported that all television advertising revenue - including Sky TV - was down 1.1 per for all of 2008, but 4.4 per cent in the second half of last year.
TBC chief executive Rick Friesen acknowledged revenue would be down in the first half of 2009.
Figures are not out for newspapers, but Martin Gillman of media buyer Total Media said newspapers almost certainly fell more than 4.4 per cent in the second half of 2008 and would be hit harder than television in the first half of 2009.
With both recording falls and facing competition from new media such as websites, both claim to be more effective at producing sales.
"It's notoriously difficult to prove," says Michael Carney, an analyst with the Media Counsel.
"It is the old saying: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half," he said.
The TBC issued a press release saying television was the effective medium for reaching and influencing consumers and adults spent significantly more time with television.
Rankled by the TV claims, the newspaper ad booking agency NAB - owned by APN and Fairfax - challenged the claims in a press release.
"Nielsen Media Research data collected for television, radio and newspapers shows that people who have read a newspaper in the past week are more likely to act upon advertising in daily newspapers than on radio or television. We are pleased the television networks' revenue has held up reasonably well despite the recession, but it's a stretch for them to claim leadership in reaching and influencing consumers when research doesn't support the claim."
While television bosses claimed that viewing levels were up, TV research recorded when the TV set was on and not whether anyone was watching, said NAB general manager Robert Munro.
Friesen said: "The NAB's extrapolation of that ability into making newspapers the most effective medium for reaching and influencing consumers is drawing a long bow indeed."
Gillman said there was no evidence that more televisions were left on unwatched. Advertising viewing levels were up significantly but the daytime free-to-air channels were being hit by an increase in niche Sky channels.
