Follow the money ...

[fishwrapper]

It took 50 years to go from about $20 billion in annual newspaper print ad revenue in 1950 (adjusted for inflation) to $63.5 billion in 2000, and then only 12 years to go from $63.5 billion back to less than $20 billion in 2012.

Even when online advertising is added to the print ads (see red line in chart), the combined total spending for print and online advertising this year will still only be about $22.4 billion, less than the $22.47 billion spent on print advertising in 1953.

Pretty sobering numbers. Nothing that would surprise any of us, but still a bit of a shock. What is even more troubling to me is that the online adjustment is such a small number for all of the effort and resources.

Holy ****! Sorry I didn't include link to the larger post!
Edit/append: http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2012/09/freefall-adjusted-for-inflation-print.html

 

[DanOregon]

You'll hate me, but I used Craig's List to sell something this week.
Online advertising is going to take a further hit with the pay walls. With Craig's List your audience is EVERYONE with Internet access. Are most paywalled papers making access to their classifieds free?

 

[I Should Coco]

It took 50 years to go from about $20 billion in annual newspaper print ad revenue in 1950 (adjusted for inflation) to $63.5 billion in 2000, and then only 12 years to go from $63.5 billion back to less than $20 billion in 2012.

Even when online advertising is added to the print ads (see red line in chart), the combined total spending for print and online advertising this year will still only be about $22.4 billion, less than the $22.47 billion spent on print advertising in 1953.

Pretty sobering numbers. Nothing that would surprise any of us, but still a bit of a shock. What is even more troubling to me is that the online adjustment is such a small number for all of the effort and resources.

Yeah, as many of us have argued on here for years ... online ad sales might help slow the bleeding, but they won't save the patient.

If you want to see this chart "localized" at your shop, go into the morgue and dig out a bound volume from the 1970s or 1980s. I guarantee the number of ads and pages will be stunning. And sad.

 

[Versatile]

fishwrapper, is there a full article to link to? I would love to see this chart broken down by circulation models and size.

 

[dixiehack]

That looks like the border of Maine and New Brunswick. Good God.

 

[wicked]

What is even more troubling to me is that the online adjustment is such a small number for all of the effort and resources.

What is even more troubling to me is that people still think we should be giving away the product for the hell of it, after nearly 20 years of it not working.

 

[fishwrapper]

fishwrapper, is there a full article to link to? I would love to see this chart broken down by circulation models and size.

I am so sorry. I edited/appended original post to include full link.
But to answer your question, he's just dealing in the advertising pie as a whole, and not the various slices.

 

[Joe Williams]

That looks like the border of Maine and New Brunswick. Good God.

I think it bears an uncanny resemblance to the iceberg that played such a pivotal role in "Titanic."

That's a nosedive from which there is no "Pull up! Pull up!"