Newspaper industry hit by £250m ad revenue downgrade
The struggling newspaper industry has been dealt a fresh blow after media buying network ZenithOptimedia downgraded its fourth quarterly revenue downgrade in a row.
Advertisers are now predicted to spend £250m less this year than was anticipated at the tail end of 2011 following disappointing performances for the London Olympics and Euro 2012.
Previously ZenithOptimedia had predicted ad revenue would grow 0.2% to hit £2.6bn this year but revised estimates suggest the figure will be just £2.33bn.
Last year total newspaper ad spend was £2.51bn, equating to a precipitous 7.3% decline year on year.
A breakdown of the figures reveals that there will be a shortfall of £127m in national newspaper advertising, equating to a 5.1% year on year drop to £1.22bn whilst regional newspapers will see a dip of £120m, or a 9.6% decline to £1.11bn.
Magazines also experienced a downgrade with a 3.3% predicted fall for September almost doubling to 6.3%.
In a statement Zenith said: "The print market in the UK remains extremely volatile. Whilst many had hoped the relatively good performances of the summer months heralded some sort of recovery, this theory was quickly dispersed by the performance in September and October."