Newspaper Works: it’s not as bad as you think
Things aren’t as bad for Australian newspapers as people think, industry body Newspaper Works said today.
Releasing limited figures for last year, the trade body said that in 2008, newspaper revenue across its members News Ltd, Fairfax Media, APN News & Media and West Australian Newspapers was only down by 0.6% compared to 2007.
However, Newspaper Works did not disclose actual numbers although the market has previously been put at around $4bn. And because it covers the calender year, the statistics do not take into account the brutal first quarter of 2009.
Newspaper Works admitted that revenue from the employment classifieds declined by 12.3% in 2008. It did not issue a full category-by-category breakdown but said: “Key newspaper advertising revenue categories grew strongly, including national, up by 1.3%, retail up by 2.1% and magazines up by 5.1%. In the classifieds ad revenue category, real estate grew by 1.5% and general rose 2.6%.”
Newspaper Works CEO Tony Hale claimed: “These figures prove yet again the robust state of the Australian newspaper sector. The US and UK could only dream of such results. The quality of our papers and penetration into our markets is unrivalled which helps us to weather even the toughest economic climate.”
He added: “This year will be tough for all media, however, we expect national, retail and magazine newspaper advertising to remain solid.”
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People will always still read newspapers as its a personal experience just like Web and Mobile. It’s just that the later two mediums have a share in the pie now so there will always be a correction in figures.
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Go on, this is the April Fool, isn’t it?
I love the guy’s sense of humour:
“Robust state of the Australian newspaper sector”… “quality of our papers”… “weather even the toughest climate”.
Brilliant!
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You’re dead right Tim.
These numbers are for last year.
That was before the advertising collapse which has crushed the earnings of newspapers since January 1.
It’s completely understandable Newspaper Works wants to present a positive slant, but it masks the truth.
Newspaper earnings fell off a cliff in January, February and March (though I hear they are less grim for April, May, June.)
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