Commentary

Newspaper, Magazine Revenues Fall Again

This week brought another round of bad news for traditional print media, with the U.S. Census Bureau’s quarterly services report showing that both newspaper and magazine publishing revenues fell yet again in the second quarter of the year.


According to the Census figures, total newspaper publishing revenues fell 2.5% from $6.72 billion in the second quarter of 2015 to $6.56 billion in the second quarter of 2016. For the year to date, newspaper industry revenues are down 3.4% from $13.23 billion in the first half of last year to $12.78 billion this year.

Similarly, U.S. magazine publishers saw total revenues slip 4.3% from $7.36 billion in the second quarter of 2015 to $7.05 billion in the second quarter of 2016, while year-to-date revenues fell 4.5% from $14.03 billion in the first half of 2015 to $13.4 billion this year.

The Census data doesn’t break out revenue by specific sources, but in the past, revenue declines have been spread proportionally between losses in circulation and advertising for both newspapers and magazines.

Digital subscription sales have slowed circ losses among newspapers, but have not offset them entirely.

For newspapers, the latest Census figures are part of a long-term trend going back over a decade. Taking a longer view, according to the Census total U.S. newspaper publishing revenues tumbled from $49.96 billion in 2005, the industry’s peak year, to $27.04 billion in 2015, for a 46% drop over that 10-year period.

Periodical publishing revenues fell from $49.3 billion in 2007 to $28.3 billion in 2015, for a 43% decline over this period.

Both the News Media Alliance, formerly known at the Newspaper Association of America, and the MPA – The Association for Magazine Media, have stopped publishing official figures for their respective industries’ advertising and circulation revenues in recent years.

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