Newspaper ads continue slide
Posted by Bill Gaffney | November 21st, 2007
Source: FlickrOur resident Newsosaur has a rather frightening analysis of the decline in newspaper print advertising which is currently at a 10-year low. Mutter states that the slide is far worse than the numbers suggest once inflation is accounted for.
Specifically looking at the 8.6% sales decline year-to-date, the revenue comes out around $42.7 billion. Roughly speaking that puts the industry on par with 1997 sales of $41.3 billion. Now factor in ten years of inflation and the industry’s 1997 sales would be worth $53.8 billion in 2007. That’s a remarkably different picture.
Meanwhile, online trends are positive with ad spending on newspaper sites rising to $773 million for third quarter 2007. This translates to a 21 percent increase, but obviously fails to offset the print ad decline.
Mutter’s analysis, which no MSM reporting comes close to in detail, is well worth the read.
Alas, if newspapers thin out too much the real loss will be felt by readers who will go begging for somebody with enough get-up-and-go to dig up something worth reading. How many Paris Hilton stories can you read, anyway?