Total print and online newspaper advertising revenues plummeted to $8.92 billion in Q3 2008, an 18% drop of nearly $2 billion from Q3 2007, and a 6.9% drop from Q2 2008, according to figures released by the Newspaper Association of America.
The steep declines affected every type of newspaper advertisingin both print and online categories. Overall, print advertising has reached an historic low, slipping 19.26%, to $8.19 billion in Q3.
The largest percentage drop in any one print category was in classified advertising, which dove 30.85% to $2.36 billion.
National advertising experienced an 18.42% decline, to 1.36 billion, and retail – which accounts for nearly 50% of the ad-revenue pie, fell 11.72% to $4.47 billion.
Online advertising, which many industry-watchers hope will fuel future newspaper growth, experienced a more modest decline, but still fell 3% to $749 million. Q3 was the second consecutive quarter in which online ad revenues fell. In Q2 2008, online ad sales slipped 2.4%.
Total newspaper revenues have fallen every quarter since Q3 2006.
