Newspapers have suffered a 32.7 per cent drop in print advertising revenue in the month of August compared to the previous year, with magazine ad revenue also down, by a whopping 28.5 per cent.

Print did not suffer alone, digital newspaper spend was down by 35.4 per cent, and digital magazine ad spend fell by 23.5 per cent.

According to SMI, the major declines were primarily due to the Rio Olympics and the 2016 Census. Total estimated ad spend across all channels for the month was down 12.1 per cent, to $526.5m.

Outdoor media agency ad spend dipped by 5.8 per cent. Radio spend was down by 14 per cent, while TV fell by 6.1 per cent. 

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A representative for the SMI says the only months this year where there has been year on year advertising revenue growth was January and March.

Australian publishing behemoths Fairfax and News Corp both suffered losses in their half year results, both citing drop in advertising revenue as their reason for losses.

News Corp half year results saw the company earning $2.12bn, down by $40m compared to the previous year’s results at $2.16bn.

Fairfax revenue for the half year was down by 4.7 per cent to $913m, with the company quoting a 16 per cent drop in print advertising as a primary cause for the downturn.

Established in 2009, SMI has 90 per cent of actual ad spend data in Australia. SMI analyses and publishes data, providing accurate and timely advertising spend information by media product (magazines, TV channels, websites, radio stations), media company and advertising category (retail, FMCG, banking and finance).

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