Britain’s embattled newspaper industry will be dealt a further whammy in the New Year with the latest bleak forecast indicating that national titles expected to notch up a further 9% decline.
The figures were compiled by Group M, WPP’s media buying division, which also indicated that display revenue could slip below the £1bn marker for the first time, despite a slight uptick in the forecast performance of regional titles.
Group M also downgraded its forecast for national newspapers for 2012 from a 6.3% decline in year-on-year ad revenue to a more precipitous 7.7% reverse.
If publishers thought things couldn’t get any worse then they are in for a rude awakening however then a forecast that total advertising revnue for national titles will fall from £1.19bn this year to £1.09bn next year.
Commenting on the forecast Group M said: "Advertiser budgets are more short-term than ever, if that were possible," notes Group M. "The default starting point for 2013 print budget planning is 2012 minus 'x'.
"Regional print is [already] in trouble but there is a widespread advertiser perception that the problem, in display anyway, is even more serious than it is already. AMRA's The National [initiative] is a bright spot, generally thought to be regional [newspapers'] best-ever shot at the national advertiser pound. One certainty is that it could do with more demand."