Newspaper Revs Continue Long Decline ...

From MediaDailyNews:

The modest recovery in ad spending over the course of 2010 did not benefit newspapers, which suffered yet another round of ad revenue declines in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

Indeed, the rate of loss appeared basically unchanged over the last three quarters of 2010 -- raising the ominous possibility that print ad revenues will simply remain locked into a long-term decline going forward.

Total print ad revenues dropped 6.75%, from about $6.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009 to about $6.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to the NAA, with losses spread evenly across all the major ad categories.

National advertising fell 5.66% to $1.15 billion, retail slumped 6.72% to $3.67 billion, and classifieds slid 7.56% to $1.62 billion. Within the classifieds category, automotive dropped 6.5% to $344 million and real estate tumbled 17.2% to $284 million. However, recruitment was a bright spot, growing 5.1% to $214 million.

Read it all here.