Web sales give print media ray of hope

Wed, July 19, 2006

Tags: Advertising, Newspapers, Print

There are clearly three things working against the print world right now: a slump in advertising sales, declining circulation and rising costs of newsprint. I think over time, supply and demand will ultimately stabilize the market for print advertising. Rates will have to come down to match the decline in circulation but I think print will remain a solid piece of the media budget for the foreseeable feature. The good news for some newspapers is that they are currently seeing a rapid increase in their online advertising sales. According to the story, "The Chicago Tribune said its online revenue grew 27 percent in the second quarter, and CEO Dennis FitzSimons told an investor conference last month that Tribune hopes to see online advertising make up between 12 percent and 15 percent of newspaper revenues by 2010. Other major newspaper publishers reporting this week, including Gannett Co. and McClatchy, experienced similarly fast growth in online revenues. But many analysts remain skeptical about whether that growth will outpace the advertising lost to Internet-only destinations such as Yahoo and Craigslist."

Click here to read more.