Ad revenue continues to stablise despite slight decline in first quarter

The first quarter of 2011 has seen a slight fall in newspaper advertising revenue, although the continued slowing-down in the rate of decline suggests that the market is returning to stability.

According to National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI), a total of €43.7 million was spent on press advertising between January and March of this year, compared with €47 million in 2010. Agency revenue fell by 8.6% and direct advertising revenue fell by 4.6% during the same period.

“Obviously we’d prefer to be talking about an increase in our advertising revenues but in the context of the past three years, it’s clear that market conditions are continuing to improve,” said NNI’s Paul Cooke. “We had a good finish to 2010 and although the figures have slipped again in the first quarter, we’re hopeful that the advertising recovery will continue throughout 2011.”

Recovery is certainly the name of the game north of the border, where NNI’s first quarter ad figures include an increase of more than 33% for Northern Ireland agencies.