Newspaper advertising slump continues

NEW YORK – Advertising at U.S. newspapers fell 7.4 percent in the third quarter, an industry group reported Tuesday, as another sharp plunge in classified ad revenues more than outweighed gains in online advertising.

Revenues from print advertising fell 9 percent to $10.1 billion in the three months ending in September, the Newspaper Association of America reported, led by a 17 percent tumble in classified advertising.

Within classified advertising, real estate ads took the hardest hit, down 24.4 percent in the quarter, but the other two main categories also posted declines: Help-wanted ads fell 19.7 percent and ads for cars fell 17.7 percent.

Broader economic factors such as the housing slump are weighing heavily on certain types of newspaper advertising, particularly real estate ads.

But newspapers are also feeling the pinch from online alternatives to newspaper classified advertising, such as Web sites run by real estate brokers or help-wanted postings on sites like Craigslist.

Online advertising at newspapers climbed 21 percent to $773 million in the latest period compared with a year ago. Online ads now make up about 7.1 percent of the industry’s revenue, versus 7.0 percent in the second quarter and 5.4 percent in the third quarter of 2006.

However the pace of gains in online newspaper advertising, while slightly better than the 19.3 percent gain posted in the second quarter, trailed the 25.3 percent overall increase in online advertising for the same period, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Declines in other newspaper advertising categories were less severe than in the second quarter.

National advertising at newspapers fell 2.5 percent, less than the 7.9 percent decline in the second quarter, and retail ads fell 4.9 percent, also more moderate than the 6.4 percent decline seen in the second quarter.