US Newspaper Spend To Grow 3% In 2003, Says Merrill Lynch
Advertising conditions for the US newspaper sector are improving in June, following a disappointing May, where revenues rose by just 1%, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch.
The broker says that it now expects the second quarter to return growth of around 2%. For the whole of 2003, growth is predicted to be 2.9%, with national spend leading the way at plus 5.5%. However, these forecasts may prove a little optimistic as comparisons get more difficult in the second half, analysts said.
Merrill Lynch’s latest growth forecasts are shown here. For the Q1 figures from the Newspaper Association of America, click US Newspaper Advertising Grows 1.8% In First Quarter.
| US Newspaper Advertising Forecasts | ||||||||
| National | Retail | Classified | Total | |||||
| Spend ($bn) | Growth (%) | Spend ($bn) | Growth (%) | Spend ($bn) | Growth (%) | Spend ($bn) | Growth (%) | |
| Q1 2003A | 1,756 | 3.7 | 4,670 | 2.5 | 3,454 | -0.2 | 9,881 | 1.8 |
| FY 2003 | 7,606 | 5.5 | 21,561 | 2.7 | 16,216 | 2.0 | 45,384 | 2.9 |
| FY 2004 | 8,177 | 7.5 | 22,262 | 3.3 | 17,270 | 6.5 | 47,709 | 5.1 |
| Source: NAA; Merrill Lynch estimates, June 2003 | ||||||||
