• by September 6, 2000

By Anya Khait

Despite continuing talk of the inevitable newspaper demise in light of the Internet, the newspaper advertising expenditures for the second quarter of 2000 totaled $12.1 billion, an increase of 6.8% over the same period last year, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

According to the NAA, national advertising continued to surge in the second quarter, with a gain of 14.3%, reaching $2 billion. Second-quarter numbers show retail up 5.2% to $5.4 billion and classified up 5.5% to $4.7 billion.

For the first six months of 2000, national increased 16.3% to $3.9 billion, retail grew 3% to $10 billion and classified gained 6.1% to $9 billion. Total advertising spending in newspapers for the first six months was $22.9 billion, an increase of 6.3%.

"The strong economy has continued to mean good news for newspapers," said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm. "We're encouraged by the continued growth in ad spending across the board, particularly the outstanding increases in national advertising and recruitment advertising."

Within the classified category for the second quarter, recruitment advertising grew 11.6% over the same period last year to $2.1 billion, automotive gained 0.6% to $1.1 billion, real estate increased 0.3% to $724 million and all other classified increased 1.9% to $685 million.

"Retail advertising rebounded somewhat in the second quarter due to a later Easter season this year," said NAA Vice President/Market and Business Analysis Jim Conaghan. "Recruitment advertising continues to be the mainstay of classified increases in most markets."

- MediaPost Staff Writer Anya Khait may be reached at anya@mediapost.com