According to a report by Wemf for Advertising Media Research on Thursday, as reported by SDA, daily newspapers saw a 21.9 percent decline. The general-interest press had to make do with 14.8 percent less advertising revenue, while the trade press saw a 10.1 percent decline.
The Sunday press recorded a decline of 4.9 percent, the financial and business press a decline of 4.3 percent, and the trade press a decline of 2.9 percent. Only the regional weekly press posted growth of 14.3 percent. Among the various advertising categories, the decline of nearly 30 percent in job advertisements had the greatest impact. Real estate advertisements saw a decline of 11.5 percent compared to January 2008.
In the category most important to publishers—commercial and other advertisements—the decline amounted to 15.8 percent. This category still generated 74.6 million francs. At least WEMF reported a 5 percent increase in brochure inserts. However, given the modest total of 8.5 million francs, this is little consolation.
The Swiss press had already been severely hit by the decline in advertising in 2009 as a whole. Its advertising revenue fell by a good fifth. Job advertisements saw a particularly sharp decline—45 percent—last year. And that’s not all: as early as 2008, advertising revenue for newspapers and magazines had already fallen by 6 percent.
