Media buying company Group M has downgraded its UK ad forecast, and predicted that he newspaper market will go into reverse.

The group has cut its prediction for UK total ad spend in 2011 down to just 1.5% year on year, and TV ad spend to 1%  - a reduction of 3% from what was projected in December 2010.

Group M claimed that the reduction is due to marketers putting their television budgets under scrutiny, with the a likely fall from last year due to the spending on the World Cup in the summer of 2010.

The predictions that fell the most was that of newspapers, with a decline of 4.1% ad fall predicted for national papers and 12.6% reduction for regional papers.  The magazine industry forecast has also been slashed to -7.2% growth.

Adam Smith, director of Group M, said: “2011's UK retail sales slowdown has put a brake on advertising, at least short-term.

“We always expected 2011 would be fundamentally tougher, but have had to reduce our previous forecast."