In 2008 the 500 largest American companies, as listed by Fortune magazine, lost a combined US$500 billion, paidContent reported today.

As advertising spending fell 4.1 percent, according to ZenithOptimedia, media companies were some of the hardest hit. All sectors of the industry suffered, as highlighted by the presence of Time Warner, CBS Corp and Gannett Corp. in the top fifteen losers with a total of nearly $32 billion worth of losses.

Media and entertainment conglomerate Time Warner, the United States' 48th largest company, was the 9th largest loser with a $13.4 billion deficit. This loss came on the back of the $25 billion write-down of the company's cable, publishing and online branches, paidContent reported in an article posted by the Washington Post.

CBS Corp., the 186th largest company, had a $11.7 billion loss, the 10th largest. While posting higher ratings than NBC, ABC, and FOX, the company's losses came from a $10 billion write-down of TV station assets and the combination of large programming and distribution costs and the advertising revenue decline.

Newspaper publishing firm Gannett Co. lost $6.6 billion, the 14th largest loss. The 371st largest company in the U.S. had a combined $6.6 billion write-down of its U.S. and U.K. newspaper assets, paidContent reported.

2009 does not appear to be offering a more favourable climate, with analysts predicting the first quarter of 2009 to be worse than the last quarter of 2008. Gannett has listed a 60 percent drop in its first quarter profits and most media companies are expected to record similarly bad results.