The New Zealand Television Broadcasters’ Council said that advertising revenue in the country rose to $654.4 million, from $640.6 million in 2006.

Council chief executive Justine Wilkinson said the second-half performance was boosted by an optimistic economy leading up to Christmas.  Sales around popular programmes including Border Patrol, the improved performance of Shortland Street, and Outrageous Fortune also helped, as did the Rugby World Cup, which screened on TV3 during September and October.

The reported figures are sourced from the returns prepared by Television New Zealand’s TV One and TV2, MediaWorks’ TV3 and C4, Sky TV and its free-to-air channel Prime.

Source: www.stuff.co.nz