Q2 ad sales down 29%

Newspaper ad sales continued to plummet during the second quarter of the year, according to statistics released last week by the Newspaper Association of America.
The NAA said papers posted print and online ad revenues of $6.8 billion during the three-month period, a 29 percent decline from 2008 figures.
Online ad revenues fell by 16 percent, to $653 million — a disquieting development as publishers had earlier hoped online advertising would help offset the downturn in print advertising.
Classified ad revenues fell more than 40 percent, to $1.5 billion, with employment advertising taking the biggest hit, down more than 66 percent from comparable 2008 figures. Automotive classified advertising fell 42.7 percent while real estate advertising dropped 45.7 percent.
For the first half of 2009, newspaper print and online ad revenue totaled $13.5 billion, down significantly from the $18.8 billion in total ad revenues the newspaper industry attracted during the first six months of 2008.