Publishers reject PwC print projections

NewsMediaWorks, the peak organisation representing Australia’s leading news media publishers, has called out accountancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for ‘inexplicably gloomy’ print media advertising forecasts.

PwC’s 2019-2023 print advertising forecasts were contained in the Australian Entertainment & Media Outlook report published earlier this month, which claims to be ‘Australia’s leading industry forecasting report’.

NewsMediaWorks asserts that there is an underlying and unexplained pessimism in the PwC forecasts that negatively impacts market sentiment in dangerous ways.

As billions of media advertising dollars are on the move annually, it is vitally important that the forecasts are consistently accurate.

According to the latest industry figures, print news media is read by 11.6 million people, or 63 per cent of the population. 

NewsMediaWorks contends that PwC inexplicably forecasts accelerating declines in print advertising at a compound annual rate of  -20 per cent despite having four years of actually lower declines from 2014 to 2018 of CAGR of -11.5 per cent.

Peter Miller, CEO, NewsMediaWorks, says, “A key component in the continued viability of news media is advertising sentiment, which is being negatively impacted by the gloomy PwC print media forecasts.

“NewsMediaWorks has a firm grip on the revenue realities and prospects of its members and we have already successfully managed the transition to digital and have strong and growing audiences across platforms. We look forward to reviewing the current forecasts with PwC. ” 

Metro news media is read by 9.5 million Australians, representing 51 per cent of the country’s population above the age of 14, according to the latest emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) data for April 2019, released today.

A total of 17.4 million Australians, or 93 per cent of the population, read news media across platforms. Eight in ten Australians (84 per cent or 15.6 million people) read digital news media, while print news media is read by 11.6 million people, or 63% of the population. 

A total of 9.8 million people, or 53% of the population, read both print and digital news media.

Regional/Community news media is read by 5.4 million people, or 29 per cent of the population.

NewsMediaWorks CEO, Peter Miller, said: “Trusted, independent and brand safe news content has again come to the fore, particularly as 16 of the world’s largest advertisers come together to create a taskforce to compel the digital giants to confront dangerous and fake content online. There is only one media channel that has the nation’s most trusted content and that is news media. The stability of news media’s large audience in the latest emma figures confirms that readers seek trusted and credible journalism that only we can offer.”

The Sydney Morning Herald is Australia’s highest-reaching title across all platforms with seven million readers. The Daily Telegraph followed, reaching 4.1 million readers and the Herald Sun with 3.7 million.

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