A comprehensive study by the Pew Research Center found daily newspapers are losing $7 in print ad revenue for each $1 they gain in digital advertising income.
The study involving 38 newspapers from across the U.S. found that dailies of less than 25,000 circulation were losing print ad revenue at a slower rate, about one-third the rate than those papers with 50,000 subscribers or more.
However, those daily newspapers with higher circulations of 50,000 subscribers and more were seeing digital advertising revenues increases an average of 20 percent a year, compared with only 13 to 14 percent annual growth for smaller newspapers.
Asked where they thought the industry was headed, executives said "the most common scenario was that the newspaper would be printed and delivered to people's homes less frequently, perhaps as little as two to three days a week - or even just on Sunday."
Because newspapers' largest share of revenue comes on Sundays, printing only Sunday or a few days a week would be a way for newspapers to capture some of the cost savings of going digital while retaining the bulk of their print advertising revenue, according to the Pew researchers.
"What holds papers back from this mixed approach is the fear that if the print paper largely disappears most weekdays, consumers might turn away from the lucrative Sunday print paper as well, which would hasten the end of the enterprise before digital revenue grows sufficiently."
Newspaper newsrooms have shrunk just under 30 percent since 2000, according to Pew, and several publishers in the recent study predict the shrinking of news staffs will intensify.
