US digital newspapers will outperform print ads in 2026

American market will be the first to experience this phenomenon, says study; print will lose $2.4 billion from advertising

In a sharp decline for years, US print newspaper advertising revenues will be overtaken by digital newspapers in 2026. This is the prediction of a study by the consultancy PwC released this week at the publicity conference Cannes Lionsin France.

According to projections, the North American country will be the 1st major media market in the world to experience this change.

Altogether, it is estimated that publishers of US newspapers will lose $2.4 billion in ad spend from 2021 to 2026. In large part, the drop is because of print advertising losses.

By 2026, digital newspaper ad revenue will be approximately $5 billion, slightly exceeding that of print newspapers ($4.9 billion).

See below in the graph how the newspaper advertising market will change according to PwC’s projection:

The report also shows that ads in digital newspapers are on the rise, but the rise is timid and will not be enough to prevent the industry from losing overall advertising revenue.

As the graph shows, print advertising will drop from $7 billion in 2021 to $4.9 billion in 2026. Digital ad revenue will rise, adding $251 million from 2022 to 2026.

While print advertising revenue declines are nothing new, US newspapers have resisted because of their local presence. “It’s not a difference in the willingness to digitally transform, but a market difference” explained Christina Bangah, director of PwC’s media division and co-author of the report to axios.

Cannes Lions was held June 20-24, 2022. At the event, PwC presented data and projections for global entertainment and media revenue.

According to the consultancy, in all, the rise in this market was 10.4% in 2021, after falling 2.3% in 2020 as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. The expectation is that the industry will grow 7.3% this year.