Newspaper publishers report sharp declines in ad revenue

Several newspaper publishers have reported their third quarter earnings, and the news across the board is pretty grim.
Editor & Publisher reports that while each of the four publishers that released earnings this week beat Wall Street estimates, industry analysts are concerned about ad trends, especially in September.

"The fact that September numbers are showing an acceleration of declines does not bode well for the remainder of the year," said Mike Simonton, a media analyst with Fitch Ratings. "There's really no catalyst for the numbers to improve."

According to the article, McClatchy, Gannett and the New York Times Co. all reported ad revenue declines of at least 16 percent.
These numbers are early indications, however. It remains to be seen exactly how much the slowing economy will affect the already-beleaguered newspaper industry.

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