Online newspaper advertising revenue dropped by a precipitous 17% in Q309, compared with the same quarter in 2008, from $750 million last year to $623 million this year, according to the most recent figures released by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA).
That number, though, pales in comparison with the total newspaper revenue decline of 28%, writes MarketingCharts. Classifieds plunged 64.7%, while real estate and auto both saw 43% declines, the NAA said.
Ongoing Decline
This is the 14th straight quarter of total revenue declines, while online revenue has fallen for six quarters straight, according to NAA data. "Given the depressed state of the overall economy, and earlier third-quarter financial reporting by publicly traded newspaper companies, the Q3 industry-wide advertising revenue summary should come as no surprise," said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm in a statement where he acknowledged the steep declines but said that some categories showed slight improvement.
Sturm also added that, despite these declines, newspapers continue to look to the future and continue to transform business models to position themselves as top players in a "multiplatform media universe," as the economy continues to improve. "These numbers are in line with most expectations, and even show some modest directional improvement in key categories like retail and national."
Paid vs. Free?
As ad revenue declines, the debate about paid vs. free content online continues. In what appeared to be a mixed blessing for subscription-based online news models, a recent study by the Boston Consulting Group found that US readers are only willing to pay about $3/month to receive news on their personal computers and mobile device.
Publishers, for their part, are increasingly looking to new solution providers to help them monetize their online audiences. Meanwhile, newspapers ranging from the New York Times to Newsday to - most recently - the Boston Globe, have launched, or at least discussed, initiatives to charge their internet readers for content.
