The Canary At The New York Times Grows Larger As Internet Advertising Keeps Dropping
January 28, 2009 at 12:48 PM EST
The advertising situation at the New York Times is not getting any better. Today, the company released its fourth quarter earnings . Total advertising revenues were down 13.1 percent in the quarter to $1.8 billion. Of that, its total Internet advertising revenues (from NYTimes.com, Boston.com, and About.com primarily) was only $$81.9 million, down 3.5 percent. Internet advertising only accounts for 12 percent of the company's annual revenues (for the year, it made $309 million from Internet advertising, up 9.3 percent). But as one of the largest media sites on the Web it is an important bellwether. When the New York Times reported last November was the first time Internet advertising revenues declined (by 3.8 percent), I called it the canary in the coalmine . In December , things took a turn for the worse, with Internet advertising revenues dropping an even steeper 12.7 percent.