Cinema advertising among Cinema Advertising Council (CAC) members grew by nearly 2% in 2009 to $584.1m according to a report by the non-profit.

The report, which was independently tabulated by Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co, contrasts the growth against “significantly” declining spend in other traditional media last year.

Regional and national cinema advertising sales were up 5.4% compared with the previous year, accounting for 79.4% of the industry.

Local cinema advertising sales were down 9.6% and accounted for 20.6% of the total cinema advertising market.

“[The] growth is continuing in 2010, as cinema has already experienced double digit increases across the board,” CAC president and chairman Michael Chico said. “Our sector’s vitality remains very strong and major brands that have utilised cinema remain loyal to the category based on the return on investment we provide.”

The CAC report includes revenue data for both on-screen cinema advertising including commercials airing in advance of previews and the feature presentation, as well as off-screen revenues including those delivered by digital video and audio programming, sampling, special events, concession-based promotions and lobby-based promotions. 

On-screen revenues accounted for more than 93% of total cinema advertising revenues and climbed 2.1% on 2008, while off-screen revenue stayed the same.