The latest numbers from the Newspaper Association of America show that newspaper advertising revenue is plummeting as attention and ad dollars move online.

The numbers are downright ugly:

• Total advertising expenditures at newspaper companies were $10.9 billion for the third quarter of 2007, a 7.4 percent decrease from the same period a year earlier.
• Spending for print ads in newspapers totaled $10.1 billion, down nine percent versus the same period a year earlier.
• Among the major print components in the third quarter, classified advertising fell 17 percent to $3.4 billion.
• Retail declined 4.9 percent to $5.1 billion and national was down 2.5 percent, coming in at $1.7 billion.
• Within the classified print category in the third quarter, real estate advertising fell 24.4 percent to $1 billion.
• Recruitment dropped 19.7 percent to $882.4 million.
• Automotive was down 17.7 percent to $796.6 million. All other classifieds were up 2.7 percent to $713.3 million.

Newspapers Struggling To Get Attention Online

The one bright spot for newspapers is growing online revenues, but these aren’t growing fast enough to replace the tremendous offline revenue drops:

• Advertising expenditures for newspaper Web sites increased by 21.1 percent to $773 million in the third quarter versus the same period a year ago.
• The increase reflects the fourteenth consecutive quarter of double digit growth for online newspaper advertising since NAA started reporting online ad spending in 2004.
• The continued year-over-year gains have demonstrated the importance of newspaper Web site advertising, which now accounts for 7.1 percent of total newspaper ad spending, compared to 5.4 percent in last year‚Äôs third quarter.

The Association offers a positive take on the relatively dismal situation.
“Newspaper Web sites continue to generate substantial revenue by offering advertisers access to the nation’s most desirable group of consumers,” said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm.

“At the same time, broader economic issues are impacting our industry the same way they are impacting other media – the continued fallout from declines in the housing market clearly affects real estate, recruitment and retail advertising. Newspaper companies continue to take aggressive measures to prepare for the future during a period of economic challenges for the industry.”

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