Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the competitive advertising information service of The Nielsen Company, recently revealed that advertising spending for the first quarter of 2008 remained essentially flat compared to the same period last year, according to preliminary figures.

Advertising was mixed across media with gains in some mediums and declines in others.  Overall despite a continued softening of the economy, several media and companies are showing healthy growth in advertising for this quarter.

Advertising in National Sunday Supplements saw the largest growth, with an increase of 19.2% over Q1 2007, while Local Sunday Supplements fared worst among the 17 media tracked by Nielsen, declining by 13.5% compared with the same period last year.

View The Full Nielsen Release.