Recently, equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS) published its annual "Communications Industry Forecast" and once again cited public relations as one of the fastest-growing (media) segments in the United States. VSS reports that PR's annual compound growth rate from 2001-2006 was 8.3 percent; advertising, by comparison, grew at a 4.5 percent rate during the same period. Communications spending will exceed $1 trillion for the first time in 2008 and reach $1.222 trillion in 2011, according to the VSS Forecast.

In analyzing the strengths of public relations firms, the VSS report states: "Public relations agencies are well-positioned to function successfully in today's fragmented media environment because they are adept at using different media outlets to reach target audiences." It lauds public relations as a "brand-building tool" that has a "direct impact on sales."

VSS tracking data for the first half of 2007 indicates that the communications industry is on pace to grow 6.4 percent this year and will post a CAGR of 6.7 percent in the 2006-2011 period, making it the third fastest growing sector of the U.S. economy.

In addition to shifting their attention to alternative media, consumers are also migrating away from advertising-supported media, such as broadcast television and newspapers, to consumer-supported platforms, such as cable TV and videogames.

"We are in the midst of a major shift in the media landscape that is being fueled by changes in technology, end-user behaviors and the response by brand marketers and communications companies," said James Rutherfurd, Executive Vice President and Managing Director at VSS. "We expect these shifts to continue over the next five years, as time and place shifting accelerate while consumers and businesses utilize more digital media alternatives, strengthening the new media pull model at the expense of the traditional media push model."