Chris Anderson spells out the Mainstream Media Meltdown:
Down:
- Box Office: down by 7% this year (tickets per capita have fallen every year since 2001).
- Newspapers: circulation, which peaked in 1987, is declining faster than ever and is down another 2.6% so far this year.
- Music: Sales are down another 5.7% this year; although digital downloads (still just 6% of the business) are climbing nicely.
- Radio: down 4% this year alone, continuing a multi-decade decline.
- Books: down by 7% in 2004 (but see comments below for discussion)
Mixed:
- DVDs: sales growth is slowing dramatically, from 29% last year to single digits this year.
- TV: Total viewership is still rising, but as channels proliferate and the audience fragments the rating of the average show continues to decline.
- Magazines: Ad revenues are up a bit although the number of ad pages is flat (they’re charging more per page). Circulation is also flat, while newsstand sales are at an all-time low.
- Videogames: it’s the final few months of the current generation of consoles, which tends to the trough of the buying cycle. Sales were down 20% in Sept, but will probably pick up by Christmas with the launch of the Xbox 360.
Up:
- Internet advertising:
- Banners: Up 10% this year
- Keywords: Google revenues up 96%
