Veronis Suhler Report Reflects Battered US Media Industry
A Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS) report has painted a very bleak picture of recent times in the US communications industry, according to an article on MediaPost.
Veronis’ Communications Industry Report shows that the number of publicly-held media companies in the US has plunged by 37% over the past two years. At the companies that remain, financial figures have been weak as advertising levels have plummeted.
Poised for recovery However, there does seem to have been a slight turnaround at the beginning of this year. Veronis says that its report shows an ‘industry under duress’, but an industry that is ‘poised for recovery’. VSS is forecasting a 2.9% growth in revenue for US media this year and an annual growth rate of around 5.5% until 2006.
However, no new advertising dollars are currently entering the market, in contrast with the last five years which saw substantial revenue sources from the internet and telecommunications emerge.
| US 2002 Advertising Forecasts | |
| Year on Year Growth (%) | |
| Network television | 2.9 |
| Cable and satellite | 9.5 |
| Local radio | 3.0 |
| National radio | 4.0 |
| Newspaper | 3.2 |
| Internet | 4.1 |
| Total | 2.9 |
| Source: Veronis Suhler Stevenson, August 2002 | |
