U.S. newspapers post steeper ad declines in 2Q

Posted by Erina Lin on August 28, 2009 at 7:49 AM

U.S. newspaper publishers marked a 29 percent decline of their print and online advertising revenue in the second quarter, which is steeper than the previous period, according to the data from Newspaper Association of America, Bloomberg reported.

Ad revenue was down from $9.6 billion in the first quarter last year to $6.82 billion year-over-year, while ad sales fell 28 percent in the first quarter to $6.62 billion.

This continuous downturn in advertising has resulted in job, wage and section cuts, as well as newsstand price rises.

Those with more than half revenues coming from ad sales include New York Times Co. and Gannett Co., according to Newspaper Association of America.

Industrywide, print ad revenue declined 30 percent to $6.16 billion, while online-only advertising decreased 16 percent to $653.1 million in the second quarter, Bloomberg reported.

Recruitment ad sales plunged 66 percent, the most across all classified categories. Real estate ads followed with the 46 percent drop and automotive ads with 43 percent.