US Newspaper Revenues Down 6.5% In First Half
US newspaper advertising revenues for the second quarter of 2001 totalled $11.1 billion, a decline of 8.4% year on year, according to preliminary estimates from the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). This compares US newspaper’s highest Q2 growth ever last year of 6.8%.
For the first half of 2001, retail advertising was down 1.4% to $9.8 billion; national advertising dropped 6.2% to $3.6 billion and classified dropped 12.2% to nearly $8 billion. Total advertising in newspapers for the first six months was $21.4 billion, down 6.5% from the same period last year.
| US Newspaper Revenues By Advertising Sector (£ billion) | ||||||||
| National | % Change | Retail | % Change | Classified | % Change | TOTAL | % Change | |
| Q2 2000 | 2.1 | 14.3 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 4.7 | 5.5 | 12.1 | 6.8 |
| Q2 2001 | 1.9 | -8.5 | 5.3 | -2.2 | 4.0 | -15.5 | 11.1 | -8.4 |
| Q1 2000 | 1.8 | 18.7 | 4.6 | 0.5 | 4.4 | 6.7 | 10.8 | 5.7 |
| Q1 2001 | 1.8 | -3.7 | 4.6 | -0.4 | 4.0 | -8.6 | 10.4 | -4.3 |
| H1 2000 | 3.9 | 16.3 | 10.0 | 3.0 | 9.1 | 6.1 | 22.9 | 6.3 |
| H1 2001 | 3.6 | -6.2 | 9.8 | -1.4 | 8.0 | -12.2 | 21.4 | -6.5 |
| Total 2000 | 7.7 | 13.7 | 21.4 | 2.4 | 19.6 | 5.1 | 48.7 | 5.1 |
| Source: NAA | ||||||||
The numbers are not surprising, given then current economic climate, according to NAA president and CEO John F. Sturm. “As advertising is being cut across all media, the use of newspapers as brand-building vehicles is more important and cost-effective than ever,” he claims.
“We’re now seeing the downside of having been so very successful in attracting recruitment advertising into our medium in recent years,” said NAA vice president of Market and Business Analysis, Jim Conaghan. “Overall, the comparisons in most categories ease in the second half of this year where we can expect some improvement.”