Report: Newspaper Ad Spending on the Rise

Online ad spending, projected by the Internet Advertising Bureau to be close to $2 billion for 1998, doesn’t seem to be making a dent in newspaper ad spending.

Newspaper advertising expenditures in 1998 totaled $43.9 billion, an increase of 6.3 percent over 1997, according to preliminary estimates from the Newspaper Association of America. For the fourth quarter, ad spending was up 4.9 percent to $12.7 billion.

In 1998, retail ad spending was $20.3 billion, an increase of 5.7 percent. Classified expenditures grew to $17.9 billion, an increase of 6.6 percent, and national hit $5.7 billion, for a gain of 7.7 percent, the NAA said.

“This growth continues to reflect the ongoing strength in local markets across the country and is consistent with our earlier forecast for the year,” said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm. “We expect to see another year of share growth as advertisers continue their spending in newspapers.”

NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the $54 billion newspaper industry and more than 1,700 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada.