(Daily Finance) — Although many media pundits have declared that newspapers are in a death spiral, group buying may — just may — have an antidote. Let’s jump through the math. In 2009, the Newspaper Association of America logged roughly $25 billion in advertising revenues. Three-quarters of that was from display advertising. That’s a shocking $23 billion plunge from the 2000 bubble high of $48 billion. But the NAA says print ad declines are now moderating, and I believe it. After all, 50% of Americans still use paper checks and are way past saturation with plastic or debit cards. Add in online newspaper ads of $2.8 billion, and you get to almost $28 billion in 2009 ad revenues — during the Great Recession. I’d expect the declines to continue, but keep in mind the newspaper business is still quite profitable in many markets.
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