Online props up newspaper ad revenues

The struggling newspaper industry has finally received some good news, according to recently released data from the Newspaper Association of America and Nielsen Online.

by Helen Leggatt

NAA%20logo.gif Print advertising is under pressure and the U.S. newspaper industry is increasingly reliant upon the Internet to bring in advertising revenues.

With that in mind, many will sigh with relief this week as NAA/Nielsen Online report record numbers of visitors to U.S. online newspaper websites. The number of unique visitors increased 6 percent to around 60 million per month in 2007.

"Newspapers' expanding print and digital portfolio offers value to advertisers by providing a targeted, comprehensive menu of choices for today's discriminating consumer," said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm. "As our industry's transition accelerates, it is clear consumers recognize newspapers as their trusted source of information in an increasingly digital environment."

A couple of innovative newspapers in the U.S. have even placed trailers on YouTube for major investigative reports to attract more readers.

While online revenues rose 21 percent to $773 million, print ad revenues decreased 9 percent to $10.1 billion. In Q3 2007, total newspaper ad revenues fell 7.4 percent.