The New York Times has reported that ad revenue declined 16.6% last year and will be announcing their quarterly performance this week. People close to many newspapers are saying that the first quarter could be down 20-30%. One silver lining is that March may not have been as bad as is showing up because last year, Easter fell in the first quarter and that drives many spring promotions for the retail sector. While Internet advertising was once thought to be an answer to declining traditional revenue, sales are declining there as well leading many to begin considering charging a subscription fee for web content. (CableSpots 4/16/09)
While the economy is certainly not helping this ailing industry I believe they would have been hurting anyway because of a shift in advertising moving away from newspapers and toward cable TV and the web.
What’s been your experience with the newspaper lately? Do you subscribe and read it? Do you read it online? Are you using it for advertising and having much success?
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