Annual newspaper sales increase for 2008: WAN conference
Posted by Simon Day on May 28, 2009 at 11:22 AM
The World Association of Newspaper revealed a global increase in newspaper sales for 2008 at its The Power of the Print conference in Barcelona Wednesday.
Gavin O'Reilly, the president of WAN and CEO of Independent News and Media, announced a 1.3 percent worldwide growth in newspaper sales from 2007, with a total of 539 million daily. While the industry suffered heavy declines in the U.S. and Europe, increased sales in Africa, Asia and Latin America help produce an 8.8 percent four year increase.
Gavin O'Reilly, the president of WAN and CEO of Independent News and Media, announced a 1.3 percent worldwide growth in newspaper sales from 2007, with a total of 539 million daily. While the industry suffered heavy declines in the U.S. and Europe, increased sales in Africa, Asia and Latin America help produce an 8.8 percent four year increase.
"The sector continues to grow," O'Reilly said at the WAN conference in Barcelona, describing predictions of the death of the daily newspaper as a "mistake."
While daily newspapers in western nations struggle against an economic crisis and Internet based advertising downturn third world markets are thriving. In areas such as Asia and Africa growing middle classes are feeding a healthy print media.
"But you might say that this growth is taking place in the developing markets of the world and masks a continued downward trend in the developed markets. And to a degree this is true, but not the whole story, as newspaper companies in these markets have embraced digital technologies to further improve their audience reach," he said in a speech opening the conference.
Print based media in India recorded a 16 percent growth from 2006 to 2007 according to a study by PriceWaterhouse Coopers presented at the conference.
Although sales were up, O'Reilly revealed global advertising revenue at daily newspapers down around 5 percent from 2007 with an even bigger drop predicted for this year. However he predicted advertising income would "rebound" with the global economy.
O'Reilly said the industry is in a time of "hyper change" as the Internet and mobile devices mold new ways content in consumed. However, digital and print don't need to be competitors, but complementary, pointing out that the future is not only online.
A study by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, spanning seven countries, found two-thirds of the respondents were prepared to pay for access to online newspaper content.
WAN represents 18,000 newspapers from over 120 countries.
While daily newspapers in western nations struggle against an economic crisis and Internet based advertising downturn third world markets are thriving. In areas such as Asia and Africa growing middle classes are feeding a healthy print media.
"But you might say that this growth is taking place in the developing markets of the world and masks a continued downward trend in the developed markets. And to a degree this is true, but not the whole story, as newspaper companies in these markets have embraced digital technologies to further improve their audience reach," he said in a speech opening the conference.
Print based media in India recorded a 16 percent growth from 2006 to 2007 according to a study by PriceWaterhouse Coopers presented at the conference.
Although sales were up, O'Reilly revealed global advertising revenue at daily newspapers down around 5 percent from 2007 with an even bigger drop predicted for this year. However he predicted advertising income would "rebound" with the global economy.
O'Reilly said the industry is in a time of "hyper change" as the Internet and mobile devices mold new ways content in consumed. However, digital and print don't need to be competitors, but complementary, pointing out that the future is not only online.
A study by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, spanning seven countries, found two-thirds of the respondents were prepared to pay for access to online newspaper content.
WAN represents 18,000 newspapers from over 120 countries.
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