The New York Times summarized the dismal year that the daily newspapers are having, claiming it’s the worst ever in terms of percentage decline in ad revenue. In 2007, newspaper ad sales dropped 8%, and this year it’s falling another 12%. May saw declines of 14-15%, and The San Francisco Chronicle is losing $1 million per week. Media General has had to revise their forecasts downward twice this year and CEO Marshall Morton glumly predicts that, “There’s got to be some assimilation” with some major newspaper companies declaring bankruptcy or merging. Goldman’s Peter Appert agrees, admitting that he never imagined that things would get as bad as they have gotten so fast. Edward Atorino, an analyst at the Benchmark Company, admits that he, too, missed the boat and had not been pessimistic enough in his forecast of the industrry’s decimation. Analysts are now predicting that the industry will not bottom out for 3 or 4 more years. I’d say that that’s about the right time frame, maybe even a little generous, but that by then, there will only be a handful of players left on the field.

Thanks to Cheezhead for a nice post about JobDig and LinkUp. Thanks Joel.