FORBES – 13/04/2020
Brad Adgate
It is no secret newspapers have been struggling. Circulation and ad revenue have been in a steady decline for decades. In 2018, U.S. newspaper circulation was at its lowest figure since 1940, the year when circulation information was first made available. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2018, daily newspaper circulation (print and digital) was an estimated 28.6 million for weekday and 30.8 million for Sunday. That was a drop of 8% and 9%, respectively, from the previous year. Not surprisingly, ad revenue has also fallen precipitously, from $37.8 billion in 2008, when the Great Recession began, to $14.3 billion in 2018, a 62% decline. Now, the coronavirus pandemic could be the death knell for many newspapers.