Do Media Outlets Need A Bail Out?

What do the New York Times, TMZ.com and Fox News all have in common? They all survive on ad revenue. Yet, according to new data released today, ads are drying up fast.

The New York Times reports that every type of media outlet lost ad revenue in the first quarter of 2009, based on data released by Nielsen.

Advertising spending in the first quarter fell 12 percent compared with the same period a year age, the largest decline in first quarter earnings since Nielsen started tracking that data in 2002.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that three of the worst performers came from the newspaper industry. Local Sunday Supplements lost 37 percent of their ad revenue while national newspapers saw a drop of nearly 28 percent.

This shouldn't come as a great surprise given all the coverage of the newspaper industry's struggle to survive. But they are not alone. Local and syndicated television also fell sharply, both losing nearly a fifth of their ads. Even online ads dropped more than three percent.

Some advertisers did manage to grow in this dark period. The New York Times notes that direct-response products, better known as infomercials, increased spending 14 percent. So when all the newspapers and magazines fold and local television goes dark, at least we'll still have all those bizarre infomercials to watch at night.