US newspaper publishers have shown the extent to which the advertising and economic slowdown there is hurting the media, with a disappointing set of figures for August, according to analysts at ABN Amro.
The New York Times Company saw revenues decline by 17.8% last month, with technology, media and telcoms advertising particularly weak. Revenues at he
New York Times and
Boston Globe were both down by over 20%.
Gannett, meanwhile, saw August revenues drop 7% and noted weakening advertiser demand for September. Both volume and price declines contributed to the fall in revenues. National advertising was worst hit, off by 14%; local and classified were down 2% and 9% respectively. Gannett owns the UK’s Newsquest regional publishing group.
Finally, Scripps, which publishes the Denver Rocky Mountain News, managed to keep newspaper revenues flat during the month, with advertising down 2.4%, but circulation revenues up 4.5%.
These figures come as Pearson’s FT Group has its forecasts downgraded by ABN Amro and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, due to tough advertising conditions (see Pearson Downgraded As FT And RTL Outlooks Deteriorate).
