The State of the News Media (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

Pew Project ^ | March 15, 2010 | Staff

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For the third consecutive year, only digital and cable news saw audiences grow among the key sectors that deliver news.

In cable in 2009, those gains were largely captured by one network, Fox, though during the day, a breaking-news time, CNN also gained viewers.

What’s more, the data continue to suggest a clear pattern in how Americans gravitate for news: people are increasingly “on demand” consumers, seeking platforms where they can get the news they want when they want it from a variety of sources rather than have to come at appointed times and to one news organization.

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Local television news is now seeing rapid audience declines beyond those in network, and those numbers appeared to accelerate in 2009. According to PEJ analysis of Nielsen data, viewership of the late news fell an average of 6.4% in 2009, four times the rate of a year earlier. Early evening news, at the dinner hour, fell 6.7% (similar to 2008). And early morning news, the programs that air prior to network morning shows that have been an island of relative stability for audiences, fell by 5.5% on average.

Newspapers saw print circulation losses accelerate in 2009. In the latest period, September, industry-wide circulation fell 10.6% from a year earlier. Those come on top of losses of 4.6% in 2008. The industry has lost 25.6% in daily circulation since 2000. Those declines, however, pale by comparison to the loss in revenues, which represent a more significant problem.

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The magazine industry is also hard hit. Of the 472 consumer magazines for which comparable data were available from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, circulation fell 2.23% for the last six months of 2009 compared with the same period a year earlier. But the type of circulation that cannot be controlled through promotional discounts — single-copy, or newsstand, sales — fell 9%, on top of 11% a year earlier. Six news magazines tracked here, excluding U.S. News & World Report after its conversion to monthly, fell 8.2%.

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In 2009, the recession only intensified the financial crisis that technology has brought to the news business. Every commercial news media sector saw revenue declines except for cable. Ad revenues were particularly hard hit. If estimates by ZenithOptimedia prove accurate, total U.S. ad spending fell 12.9% for the year, the sharpest drop since the Great Depression, although most news sectors saw declines close to double that.

* In newspapers, ad revenue (for print and online combined) fell 26%, a rate of decline that was more than 50% steeper than a year earlier (16%). Even online ads fell, 10%, a far cry from the 35% growth rates of a few years ago. Papers responded by raising circulation prices, figuring the core audience would remain. With those numbers added in, total revenue for newspapers fell about 22% to a total of $38 billion.

* In audio, traditional broadcast radio experienced an 18% drop in ad revenue in 2009 compared to 2008. Internet and mobile radio revenues are growing (a projected 9.4%), but they do little to alleviate the pressure – counting for less than one fortieth of total. In satellite radio, SiriusXM in 2009 increased its revenue 3.7%, compared with a year earlier, to 2.5 billion compared to 2008. The company, however, both before and after the merger, has continued to report net losses in each of the last three years. In 2009 SiriusXM posted a net loss of $441 million.

* In magazines, the number of ad pages sold across all titles studied fell by 26% in 2009, more than double the decline of a year earlier (12%). Almost every magazine suffered. Only 8% of the nearly 250 titles monitored saw an increase in ad pages. Among news magazines, the larger ones were hard hit. Time and Newsweek, for instance, saw ad pages fall 17% and 26% respectively. Niche news magazines examined tended to do better, though even here, the only one to gain ad pages was the Week, up 9.5%.

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Monday good news.

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Change in Ad Revenue by Medium - 2008 to 2009

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http://www.cjr.org/the_news_frontier/state_of_the_media_by_the_numb.php
State of the Media, By the Numbers

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/business/media/15variety.html?ref=media&pagewanted=all
Trade Papers Struggling in Hollywood

[Obadiah]

For the third consecutive year, only digital and cable news saw audiences grow among the key sectors that deliver news. In cable in 2009, those gains were largely captured by one network, Fox,...

These guys have made a suicide pact. Fox News empirically proves what we have been saying, that is, that the MSM are activist liberals who selectively deliver the news via an ardent bias. The jig is up. Americans know it, but the MSM refuse to do anything about it, hence their suicide death spiral.

[Beowulf9]

When are they going to put the Grey Lady to her eternal rest.

I’ve been wanting to see that funeral for years.

[mlocher]

Gotta do something about cable! Three cheers for newspapers.

[abb]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8559813.stm
Media tycoons wanted: Make your own newspaper

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/small-michigan-television-station-is-priced-to-sell-on-ebay/#more-28965
Small Michigan Television Station Is ‘Priced to Sell’ on eBay

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/february-online-video-usage-up-more-than-10-over-last-year/
February Online Video Usage Up More Than 10% Over Last Year

http://techdirt.com/articles/20100311/1347368524.shtml
Lessig Gives A Well-Timed Speech To The Italian Parliament On Internet Freedom

http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/
Are small papers safe? Yes. No. Maybe.

[bigbob]

Thanks. I stumbled onto this site while doing some research to prove to some friends that Fox News wasn’t on the verge of bankruptcy and etc as they had heard Ed Schultz or some equal idiot claim. It’s chock-full of good info and some very detailed studies. Highly recommend for anyone interested in where things may be heading.

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http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=124208
NBC Prime-Time Performance Mixed

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-disney13-2010mar13,0,7949360.story
Disney to shut ImageMovers Digital studio

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/business/media/13fcc.html
Effort to Widen U.S. Internet Access Sets Up Battle

http://www.cnbc.com/id/35841832
America’s Great Escape Ticket

http://www.rttnews.com/Content/BreakingNews.aspx?Node=B1&Id=1239859%20&Category=Breaking%20News
Traditional Media Declines In 2009: Pew Report

http://www.clickz.com/3639773
NBC’s Wurtzel Suggests Mobile Is On TV’s Radar More Than Web

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004075082
The State of Newspapers? Think of Sand Falling in an Hourglass, Pew Report Says

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/mar/15/abc-news-paywall
ABC News plans paywall by June

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/mar/15/abcs-newspapers-february
ABCs spell a grim circulation month for daily newspapers

http://www.buzzmachine.com/2010/03/15/the-money-graph/
The money graph

[bigbob]

Another tip of the hat, I’ve seen “paywalls” before but didn’t know that’s what they were called.

Wouldn’t you think a small-medium size newspaper would have their reporters hauling flip-cams 24/7 and posting video of everything of local interest on a paywalled website? It seems the newspapers are just using their websites to provide an electronic version of their print product, which makes about as much sense as buying a car and then hitching it to a team of horses. I subscribe to my local paper’s “E-Edition” and still have to put up with page jumps and all the other trappings of print. I have to think the time window for them to figure it out is closing rapidly.

[jimmyray]

Wouldn’t you think a small-medium size newspaper would have their reporters hauling flip-cams 24/7 and posting video of everything of local interest on a paywalled website?

That's a great idea! I never thought about it, and I doubt that local newsrags have either.

[MovementConservative]

These guys have made a suicide pact.

Michael Ramirez illustrated it well. Obama Akbar!

[MrEdd]

Teenagers on facebook and YouTube, however have thought of it, but without the paywall.

This is the news consumption pattern the youth of today are developing. And they prefer the news to be reported by their friends and peers, over some paid shill with an outside agenda.