by Felix Richter, Statista.com
Today’s chart illustrates the rise and fall of newspaper revenues in the United States since 1956. The U.S. newspaper industry pulled in $33 billion in circulation and ad revenues last year. What sounds like a lot of money is still a low point in the long history of newspapers in the United States. Adjusted for inflation, 2012 newspaper revenues were 15 percent lower than they were in 1956.
Since hitting a peak in 2000, when newspapers raked in almost $80 billion, the industry has all but collapsed. The internet boom caused print advertising revenue to decline more than 70 percent since 2000, while circulation revenue dropped by a quarter. Advertising on newspaper websites now accounts for more than 10 percent of the industry’s revenue. However, given the fact that print ad revenue dropped by more than $45 billion since 2000, the $3.4 billion in online ad sales seem like a drop in the bucket.
All numbers are expressed in constant 2013 U.S. dollars.