Newspapers Report Biggest Drop in Ad Revenue in 50 Years

Friday, March 28th, 2008 by Janet Meiners

Newspapers Report Biggest Drop in Ad Revenue in 50 Years

More bad news news about the economy and the newspaper industry. This is a particularly disturbing headline, especially if you’re in the newspaper industry. Plus, it’s an industry I’m fond of. Yes, that’s right – newspapers have had the worst drop in advertising revenue in more than 50 years.

The Newspaper Association of America (NAA), shows that total print advertising revenue fell 9.4% in 2007 compared to 2006. It now stands at $42 billion. That’s the most severe percent decline since the association started measuring advertising revenue in 1950. The worst drop before that was in 2001 when revenue dropped 9%.

Total advertising revenue including online revenue — decreased 7.9% in 2007 to $45.3 billion compared to 2006. Online revenue is also slowing, though it is still growing. This is the bright spot. In 2007 online ad revenue grew 18.8% to $3.2 billion. In 2006, online ad revenue rose 31.4% to $2.6 billion. In 2005, it jumped 31.4% to reach $2 billion.

In an NAA press release, John Sturm, president and CEO of the NAA was quoted as saying, “…newspapers publishers are continuing to drive strong revenue growth from their increasingly robust Web platforms.”

Last year, online revenue now represented 7.5% of total newspaper ad revenue compared to 5.7% in 2006. Print classified ads have hurt the most, down 16.5% over last year.

Want more marketing news & views? Follow Marketing Pilgrim's Andy Beal on Twitter!

Share this post

8 comments on “Newspapers Report Biggest Drop in Ad Revenue in 50 Years”

NiraliSherni Says:

March 28th, 2008 at 10:20 pm

OMG! Attack of the internet news! Whatever will i read over the throne now!
Prosperity Writer Says:

March 30th, 2008 at 9:01 pm

is this a sign that the print ad market is saturated? and online ads are the new trend?
Advertisers Leaving Traditional Print Media | BlogOnExpo Says:

March 30th, 2008 at 9:35 pm

[...] More bad news news about the economy and the newspaper industry. This is a particularly disturbing headline, especially if you’re in the newspaper industry. Plus, it’s an industry I’m fond of. Yes, that’s right – newspapers have had the worst drop in advertising revenue in more than 50 years. – MarketingPilgrim [...]
Elections guy Says:

April 1st, 2008 at 6:15 am

Because you can’t buy goods right in the newspaper, but you can do this in browser.
Online Advertising Made Simple » Blog Archive » Biggest Drop In Ad Revenue In 50 Years - AdvertisingDay.com Says:

April 1st, 2008 at 12:41 pm

[...] Comments About The AuthorJanet Meiners always wanted to be a reporter but prefers the immediacy of blogging. Known as Newspapergrl, she has freelanced for newspapers, City Search, and business magazines. She reports on internet marketing and online trends. MarketingPilgrim Posts [...]
Is the housing market the final nail in the coffin for newspapers? - Trulia Says:

April 3rd, 2008 at 7:37 am

[...] there was lots of commentary across the web, I thought I’d do a little analysis myself to track the trends in real estate classified [...]
Gaffney3.com » The changing face of media, Part I Says:

April 10th, 2008 at 5:31 pm

[...] Newspapers Report Biggest Drop in Ad Revenue in 50 Years [via Zemanta] [...]
Reviewing a Perilous Transition - The News of March 2008 » Search Engine Optimization Blog Says:

December 23rd, 2008 at 7:00 pm

[...] Newspapers Report Biggest Drop in Ad Revenue in 50 Years This is a particularly disturbing headline, especially if you’re in the newspaper industry. [...]

Marketing Pilgrim