Newspaper Ad Revenues Declined in 2002

Posted on January 31, 2003

Corzen, an online provider of market data for the media industry, has released its final estimate for US media spending in 2002, showing newspaper advertising revenues declined for the first time since 1991. The overall decrease of 0.6 percent in 2002 versus 2001 is attributable to the severe fall-off in recruitment classified advertising.

"Total advertising spending grew by 4.0 percent in 2002; advertising in newspapers, however, fell for the first time since the early 1990s," said Kip Cassino, Corzen's Vice President of Research. "The real question is how much classified revenue will come back as the economy rebounds, particularly in the Recruitment category."

Other advertising categories grew in 2002, most notably online advertising, which grew a robust 46.7 percent Advertising in radio was up 8.2 percent; cable-TV was up by 5.9 percent; and broadcast TV grew by 5.2 percent.

"The growth in online advertising for the year was fueled primarily by local newspapers upselling print advertisers onto the web," said Cassino.

Summary Estimates of US Advertising Spending: 2002 Vs. 2001

(Estimates in $ Millions)