US newspaper advertising expenditures continue to decline, according to the latest figures from the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). In Q2, total expenditures stood at $5.61 billion, down 6.4% from roughly $6 billion a year earlier. Online revenues grew by 2.9%, to $826.7 million, representing 15% share of overall revenues. Print revenues dropped by 7.85% year-over-year to $4.8 billion. The overall 6.4% drop year-over-year in Q2 follows a 6.9% drop in Q1, but this year’s Q2 drop is the smallest year-over-year fall for any quarter since Q2 2010 (-5.55%).
Quarter-Over-Quarter Results Slightly More Encouraging
Newspaper ad revenues actually increased on a quarterly basis, up 8.3% from Q1. Even so, that is a reflection of seasonal trends, as revenues have increased between Q1 and Q2 in every year for which data is provided by the NAA (going back to 1971).
Still, the quarter-over-quarter increase this year is larger than in previous years, including 2011 (7.8%), 2010 (7.7%), 2009 (3%), and 2008 (4%).
National Ad Sales Continue Free Fall
Print ad expenditure decline was most pronounced in national ad sales, which dropped 9.73% year-over-year to $889 million. Classifieds revenue fell 8.39% year-over-year to $1.14 billion, though that was a smaller drop than the 9.85% year-over-year decline from Q1. Retail spending, which represents the majority of expenditures, saw a comparatively smaller decline of 7%, down to $2.75 billion.
Within the retail category, the apparel and accessories and computers/electronics verticals, which represent 6.9% and 11.6% share of retail spending, respectively, were the only to buck the downward trend, with ad dollars rising in each. Coupon marketing organizations increased their national ad spend from $208.9 million in Q2 2011 to $228.2 million in Q2 2012, accounting for 25.7% share of national ad sales in Q2 2012.
