The Standard Media Index (SMI) this week reported findings that really caught the attention of almost everyone in media. A service that tracks spending by 80% of all U.S. agencies, SMI reported that newspaper spend was up 18% in September and 16% for the quarter. Their research is directional as it doesn’t include all agencies and does not reflect spends made by clients direct (i.e. Macy’s) or FSI activity handled by specialty placement shops. That said, the numbers are still impressive and are frankly no surprise to us here at the NNN. We saw similar double digit percentage gains for both periods. In fact, for Q4, we are already pacing ahead of these Q3 industry growth figures. With all of the negative press that the newspaper industry has managed through over the years, the obvious question most people are asking when they read the report is: What is driving this growth, and is it sustainable?
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