September 21, 2010

Here's more info for your budgeting process and it's not that rosy. But, as I wrote in my week-long series on budget prep a couple weeks ago, the more information you have, the better you can project (and represent) your stations' budget for 2011.

• Standard & Poor's senior economist Beth Ann Bovino predicts "a slow and uneven recovery will continue into 2011."
• 2010 GDP forecast is now +2.5%
• Bovino doesn't think unemployment will reach pre-downturn levels until 2012 or 2013
• Blue Chip Economic Indicators newsletter said the economy is expected to grow by 3.0% in 2011, which is 0.1 percentage point lower than estimates made a month ago

As I wrote a couple weeks ago, local economic forecasts are readily available in your area. If you can't find them, contact the Econ department at a local University and they can provide you what they have.

P.S. They say a 30-second Super Bowl ad is going for $3 million this year.