It would seem that proponents of Freeview will have a fight on their hands.

According to KPMG figures that appeared in The Australian, the free-to-air TV advertising market has fallen 5.3% in the six months to December 2008.

The figures revealed that the metropolitan TV advertising market has fallen to $1.5 billion compared to the same period in 2008.

Channel Seven was the main beneficiary, with its revenue share jumping to 41.38% on the back of its Beijing Olympics coverage.

That pushed Channel Nine’s revenue share down to 30.87% while Ten came in at 27.74%.

Meantime advertising on regional TV dipped 1.3% from the same time a year ago to $449 million.

What effect these figures will have on the proposed Freeview initiative, championed by the free-to-air operators, will remain to be seen – no doubt subscription TV vendors will be wringing their hands.