Digital Information Ecosystems

4 Does the Press Need Advertisers?

Press companies choose very different economic models, ranging from free to full subscription. But whatever economic model is chosen, the purpose of the press is to be one of the key players in the production of ideas. Business models and the production of ideas are closely linked: this is what makes the newspaper business a business that requires special attention.

The press sector has been in crisis for several years. The crisis in the print media is not new, but it persists. The entire sector, which was about 1% of French GDP in the 1970s and 1980s, has fallen below 0.5% since 2010.

In total, the turnover of the French written press, which was €7.5 billion in 2015, is down by more than 3% in its eighth consecutive decline, according to Senator Michel Laugier’s press report¹, based on data from the DGMIC (Direction générale des médias et des industries culturelles). In 2015, sales fell again, but advertising fell even further.

Indeed, advertising investments in the press are having difficulty breaking out of the downward spiral. Although net media advertising revenues recovered for the second consecutive year in 2017 (+1.2% to €13.7 billion), the press continues to suffer a decline, according to the annual advertising market barometer conducted by Irep, France Pub and Kantar Media (2018).

Investments in the press fell by 7.4% in 2017 to €2.1 billion. A slightly stronger decline than that recorded in 2016 (–6.7%) or 2015 (–5.9%).

Most press ...