Recently there is a lot of analysis around what is going to become known as the lost decade of newspaper revenue. Here is a helpful chart in that it separates the print from the online revenue.
The highlighted boxes show the big picture. Total revenue has fallen 50% since 2003.
If you look at just the print numbers since 2003, the revenue has fallen closer to 55%. While online revenue in the same period has grown dramatically, it really doesn’t help because the base was so low.
While the recession added to the misery, I don’t think very many people think that once the recovery is in full swing the print side of things are ever going to get back to the good old days. One more year of numbers will make that point crystal clear.
This decline didn’t happen by accident, it’s clearly driven by consumer behavior. The more consumers move online for information the thinner the newspaper appears by comparison. As consumers move, so do advertisers.
The constant caveat is that while newspapers are down, they are still relevant, just not so relevant.
However it is also very clear that the focus going forward for local marketing has to be digital. It’s more about landing pages and social than 3 column by 10 inch ads.