Although advertising revenues continued to decline during the first half of 2011, there were signs that the market is beginning to stabilise.

The most recent figures to have been verified with advertising agencies (January-June 2011) demonstrate an 8% decline in advertising revenues to NNI national titles, when compared with the same period in 2010.

During this period, total agency revenue was found to have declined by 7.6% year-on-year, while direct revenues were down 9.15% when compared with the same period in 2010.

Each of these numbers represents an improvement on the 2010/2009 comparison for the January-June period.

Although any decline in advertising revenues is of course unwelcome, the fact that revenue is not down any further during this period of extreme economic uncertainty is positive and something that we can take heart from.

It’s also important to note that two national newspapers, the Irish Star on Sunday and the Sunday Tribune, closed down during the period in question. The Irish Star on Sunday closed for business in January 2011 and the Sunday Tribune was forced to close its doors in February 2011.

It is our belief that when greater stability returns to the market, NNI newspapers will be able to return to growth in the important print divisions of their businesses, while continuing to expand in the digital area.

We’ll be issuing our advertising revenue figures for the period January-December 2011 in February 2012.