Printed newspapers may be in jeopardy, but 2015 figures revealed by News Media Works find print advertising revenue takes the top spot at $1.9bn, compared to digital sales of $404m.

Australia’s news media sector accounted for $2.4bn in advertising revenue for 2015, and the print industry generated the bulk of earnings.

The first quarter 2016 figures follow the print trend, with $416m in advertising spent on print so far compared to $100m for digital advertising earnings.

However the percentage change year-on-year for first quarter 2016 echoes fears of a digital-only publishing model with print slowing down, dropping 9 per cent despite the impressive revenue, and digital boosted by 18 per cent.

According to News Media Works, the figures are part of new partnership between itself Standard Media Index (SMI) and newspaper publishers called News Media Index (NMI) in a bid to ‘enhance commercial transparency for advertisers and investors”.

The data is taken from Australia’s most prolific media groups News Corp, Fairfax Media, West Australian Newspapers and APN News & Media.

The statistics for newspaper publishers closely follows Fairfax boss Greg Hywood’s blunt message to investors that major print mastheads will soon face shutdowns for daily print runs.

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