By: E&P Staff The daily newspaper industry grew 0.7% over the last five years according to Veronis Suhler Stevenson's 2004 Communications Industry Forecast & Report. The next five years will be stronger. According to the study, which was released today, total spending on daily newspapers for 2003-2008 is expected to advance 4.4%.
As for 2003, total newspaper spending increased 2.2% to $51.9 billion. Growth in preprints and utilities advertising held up the year while classified advertising dragged on the total.
Total circulation rose 1.8% to $11.7 billion in 2003 but that's only because of price hikes. Aggregate circulation actually dropped 1%.
Weeklies outperformed dailies. From 1998-2003, weekly papers grew 5% (compound annual growth). According to the report, spending in this area, including advertising and circulation at alternative weeklies and weekly shopper publications was up 4.1% to $7.4 billion in 2003. "Weekly newspapers were not as affected as dailies by the loss of employment advertising because of their concentration on entertainment and specialty merchandise ads," the report said.
As the rest of 2004 plays out, VSS predicts total newspaper spending will increase by 4.7% to $66.6 billion "fueled by economic expansion and a growing job market" that will bolster help-wanted, retail, financial, and travel categories.
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