U.S. newspaper ad spending falls in second quarter
NEW YORK, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Advertising in U.S. newspapers and their Web sites fell 8.6 percent in the second quarter, driven by declines in print ad sales because of troubles in the U.S. economy, an industry group said on Friday.
Total ad expenditures were $11.3 billion in the quarter, with spending on print ads accounting for $10.5 billion, a 10.2 percent drop from a year earlier, according to figures released by the Newspaper Association of America.
Classified ad sales fell 16.4 percent to $3.4 billion, with real estate, job and automobile sales all down. Retail ad spending fell 6.4 percent to $5.2 billion and national ad spending sank 7.9 percent to $1.8 billion.
The figures reflect ongoing difficulties faced by newspaper publishers such as Tribune Co TRB.N, Gannett Co Inc (GCI.N) and McClatchy Co (MNI.N) as they try to stem a loss of advertising sales because of a troubled U.S. housing market and other economic factors, as well as a continued exodus of readers to the Internet and other media.
Online ad spending rose 19.3 percent to $796 million compared with a year ago, the 13th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, the association said.
"Newspaper Web sites continue to have a positive impact on the industry's revenue stream during a time of transition," said the association's chief executive, John Sturm.
Newspaper Web site advertising accounts for about 7 percent of total ad spending, up from 5.4 percent in the second quarter a year ago, the group said. (Reporting by Robert MacMillan)
