More inside the link. Newspapers have been "reeling" for a long time, but that's a subject for another day.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gm-ads4-2009jun04,0,1998121.story
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gm-ads4-2009jun04,0,1998121.story
The bankruptcy of General Motors Corp., one of America's biggest advertisers, deals yet another blow to TV stations, newspapers and magazines that already are reeling from the recession.
Sports franchises also could feel the sting, with analysts expecting the automaker to continue cutting back its multimillion-dollar sponsorships of professional teams.
In the short term, the GM filing is likely to hit already struggling TV stations and newspapers the most dramatically, Borrell said, because both get a large percentage of their advertising revenue from dealer groups and dealerships. Some television stations get half of their advertising dollars from the automotive category, he said.
Last year the category accounted for 11% of all dollars spent on newspaper advertising -- $2.5 billion, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Newspapers are hurting badly, with ad sales down 30% in the first three months of the year, the Newspaper Assn. of America said Monday.