The latest Standard Media Index (SMI) report finds print advertising spend in magazines and newspapers in Australia tanked during the third quarter last year.
According to the report Australian print advertising spend dropped by more than double that of both the US and the UK.
Gloomy figures show newspaper advertising spending in Australia and NZ plunged by 20.9 per cent, and magazine advertising also plummeted by a whopping 18 per cent.
Newspaper now take a 7.8 per cent share of the Australian media spend, with magazines at 3.1 per cent. In contrast digital advertising is 23.4 per cent, up by a fifth on last year. TV dipped slightly to 47 per cent, down by 1.3 per cent on last year
[Related: Plummeting print revenue]
Print advertising in the UK magazines took a smaller hit of 8.4 per cent, and newspapers trailing close behind with 8.5 per cent. Figures in the US for newspapers saw a surprising jump in spending by 14.7 per cent – mostly driven by the bitter US presidential election – while magazine advertising dropped by 8.2 per cent.
In Australia and NZ, digital advertising pushed overall advertising revenue upwards, with a spike of 21.3 per cent, and out-of-home media also climbed, by 12 per cent. Advertising spotlight in the region is focused on digital with growth expected to continue for 2016.
The breakdown in print marketing in the ANZ region also saw media share ownership drop in the newspaper industry by 20.9 per cent to a smaller slice of 7.8 per cent, and magazine share fell by 18 per cent to 3.1 per cent.
An exodus from printed advertising has been the national trend among big Australian businesses. It was recently revealed supermarket giant Coles was shrinking its weekly print marketing allotment by thousands of dollars, and Big W soon followed suit.
Revenue generated from print ads for media giants Fairfax and News Corp has seen substantial reductions, and print is losing out to digital mediums such as television and online.
Magazine publishers are also following the trend of switching to a digital only platform as readership dwindles and profits are falling due to advertising softness.
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