U.S. Newspaper Online-Advertising Sales Increase First Time Since 2008

U.S. newspaper publishers in the first quarter reported their first gain in online advertising sales since the same period in 2008, helping offset a continued decline in more lucrative print ads.

Industrywide online ad sales rose 4.9 percent in the quarter to $730.4 million, compared with $804.1 million in 2008, Newspaper Association of America data released today show. Print advertising fell 11 percent to $5.25 billion.

Sales of Web ads had been a bright spot for newspaper publishers, regularly rising 30 percent or more since 2004, while print advertising tumbled. Publishers including New York Times Co. and Gannett Co. sold assets, trimmed sections and pared staff to counter the revenue declines.

“While broad, macroeconomic factors indicate we are not out of the woods yet, NAA is encouraged by the improvements we are seeing in newspaper ad spending,” said NAA Chief Executive Officer John Sturm in a statement.

Publishers reported sales of print retail advertising, the largest single category, fell 11 percent to $2.96 billion, according to Arlington, Virginia-based NAA. That compares with a plunge in the category of 24 percent a year earlier.

National print ad revenue declined 8.3 percent to $1.04 billion and classified advertising sales fell 14 percent to $1.25 billion, NAA reported.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Bensinger in New York at gbensinger1@bloomberg.net

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