As 2006 entered its final days, there was a sense of foreboding among media buyers about 2007 and just how healthy the media economy would be in the new year. In a telling Media Life survey of readers, just 30 percent felt optimistic that ad spending would be up from 2006.

But only a few days into the new year the mood is much brighter.

The sense among media buyers at major agencies is that the media economy will be healthy in 2007. Most now think spending will be up from 2006, a bumper ad year flush with political campaign spending and the Winter Olympics.

That’s right in line with forecasts released over the past few months.

Universal McCann forecaster Bob Coen is predicting that ad spending will rise 4.8 percent this year, while Jack Myers of the Myers Media Business Report is projecting a 3.7 percent bump in spending. ZenithOptimedia forecast a 4.1 percent increase.

"As we speak with our buyers and planners, it seems that it’s steady as it goes," says Brian Wieser, senior vice president and director of industry analysis at Magna Global. He thinks spending will be up in low-single-digit percentages over last year.

"In general, we are optimistic that 2007 will be a better year than 2006," says Charley Brough, vice president and group media director at Right Place Media in Lexington, Ky.

"In terms of organic growth, I think the predictions we’re seeing are realistic, although it’s a little too early to forecast at this point."

Moreover, buyers say 2007 will be a steady media year, without the sort of rollercoaster ups and downs of election/Olympic cycle years or any dramatic shifts in how media dollars are allocated.

Ad dollars will continue to migrate from traditional media to the internet, but buyers say the shift won't be dramatic but consistent with the ongoing trend as newer media claim ever larger shares of media budgets from their much smaller bases.

Indeed, as buyers point out, many advertisers are still in what they term test-and-learn spending. They're putting dollars into such media as mobile marketing to see whether it works for them.

In general, only a relatively small amount of money is being taken out of traditional media budgets. More often, new budgets are set up for the test-and-learn efforts.

Further, at least some of the slump seen in spending on traditional media is less about ad dollars flowing to new media and more a reflection of the maturation of that particular medium.

That's certainly the case with cable. Cable spending was up just 3.3 percent in the first three quarters of 2006, according to TNS Media Intelligence, well down from the double-digit growth of the past. But that reflects cable's near-saturation penetration levels. There just aren't that many new cable subscribers.

"Cable grew [in the past] primarily because of distribution growth," explains Wieser. "Most of the networks are now as widely penetrated as they will get."