2011 Newspaper Revenues Sink 7%

The last quarter of 2011 brought no respite for the newspaper business, which saw another round of revenue declines as the year drew to a close. Total newspaper revenues sank 6.7% to $6.83 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the latest figures from the Newspaper Association of America.

Print ad revenues in the fourth quarter decreased 8.3% from $6.45 billion to $5.93 billion. Online revenues -- the only bright spot on the ledger -- edged up 3.1% from $878.4 million to $905.6 million. For the full year, total newspaper ad revenues (including print and online) sank 7.3% to $23.9 billion in 2011. Total print revenues sank 9.2% from $22.8 billion to $20.7 billion. Online revenues increased 6.8%, from $3 billion in 2010 to $3.2 billion in 2011.