The London Olympics and Euro 2012 failed to give national newspapers the expected boost in advertising spend, with media buying network ZenithOptimedia slashing more than £100m from its forecast for the overall UK press market this year.
In June Zenith expected the total UK newspaper market to contract by a relatively resilient 1.7% year on year in 2012. But it has now taken a much more bleak position and expects a fall of 5.8%.
This downward revision equates to slashing £103m from the previous forecast in June, with national newspapers taking the brunt of the downgrade with a £69m hit.
In June Zenith expected the national newspaper market to rise 1% – thanks to events including the Olympics and Euro 2012 – which has now been downgraded to a 5% year-on-year ad revenue fall.
(Oct 1, 2012 Guardian)