PRWeek recently conducted a Corporate Survey detailing the allocation of PR budgets and functions of large companies. The study, managed by market researcher Cymfony, finds that media relations is the number one function performed by corporate PR departments, with 79.5 percent of survey respondents citing it as the most prevalent activity. When it comes to the average breakdown of companies’ PR budgets, 18.6 percent is spent on activities related to media relations – again, the number one expenditure.

The PRWeek/Cymfony survey polled 219 in-house professionals, drawing primarily from the fields of technology, consumer products and service, and financial and professional services. Nearly half had revenues from $100 million to more than $1 billion.

As a company that specializes in strategic media relations (the SMR in Trylon SMR, in case you didn’t know), we are gratified that our chief function is so highly valued by major corporations. Still, 18.6 percent isn’t a particularly large slice of the PR pie. And looking at the list of communications tasks that compete with media relations within companies’ PR departments – everything from special events (a 9 percent slice of the PR budget) to investor relations (4.1 percent) – there isn’t a lot left for media relations.

Granted, it never seems that marketing dollars are in abundance for any particular part of the budget. But when deciding where to cut and where to increase, the priorities of media relations – and how it can positively impact other marketing initiatives – ought to be seriously considered when the budgetary knife is out.