A man speaks on his mobile phone in front of the New York Times building in New York City in this file photo taken May 21, 2009.JOEL BOH/The New York Times
The New York Times has lowered its outlook for print and digital advertising revenues, fuelling concerns about newspaper publishers' vulnerability in a weak U.S. and international economy.
Janet Robinson, chief executive of the U.S. publisher behind the flagship news brand, the Boston Globe and About.com, said advertising revenues would be down 8 per cent in the third quarter, with print down by about 10 per cent and digital ad revenue reversing recent gains to record a fall of 2-3 per cent.
In July, the group said it expected "similar advertising revenue trends to those of the second quarter," when advertising revenues fell 4 per cent.
The new outlook indicates that print advertising trends have worsened from the 6.4 per cent decline of the second quarter, and that digital advertising has stumbled after a 2.6 per cent rise in that period.
"The advertising market is definitely under pressure," Ms. Robinson told the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference in New York, adding that real estate, help wanted, film studio and national automotive advertising categories were all weak. Luxury goods and telecom advertising, by contrast, were showing strength.
Ms. Robinson said circulation revenues would be up 4 per cent, in line with expectations for low single-digit growth, and that these had been helped by the decision to charge digital subscriptions for NYTimes.com.
The new digital business model was exceeding expectations, she said, adding on the sidelines of the event that she had been "very pleased" with the pricing and volume of premium advertising since NYTimes.com introduced subscriptions.
The New York Times would continue to spend on a marketing campaign for digital subscriptions, she said, and would invest in expanding its technology and health blogs.
Ms. Robinson's comments on advertising contrasted with a generally optimistic tone from television executives attending the same conference, including Chase Carey of News Corp, Les Moonves of CBS and David Zaslav of Discovery Communications, who said he was encouraged by the stability of the TV advertising market.
Shares in the New York Times were down 2.4 per cent or 16 cents at 6.48 by early afternoon in New York.