While the print industry is caught in an ongoing cycle of significant decline, this should begin to slow by 2015, if a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers is anything to go by.
According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook 2012-2016, consumer magazines will see advertising revenue plummet 8.5% in 2012 to $571 million, while newspapers will 7.2% to $3.4 billion.
However, these declines should slow slightly by 2015.
The newspaper industry will decline 7.2% in 2012, 6.6% in 2013 and 5.8% in 2014, but this will slow to 2.2% in 2015 and 3.7% in 2016.
Meanwhile, magazines will drop 8.5% in 2012, 6.6% in 2013, and 5.6% in 2014, but this should slow to 1.1% in 2015 and 2.8% in 2016.
UM chief executive Mat Baxter admitted that the PwC report is “speculation and guesswork”, however he also said that a plateau is conceivable.
“When you see something go into decline, it will often plateau when it finds its natural base,” Baxter said. “When anything declines, it declines very quickly then finds its new base. At some point there will be a levelling.”
The declines in print have been driven by the mass exodus of consumers into the online space, coupled with broader downturns in the market.
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