Such a scenario could sharpen the decline in the print advertising market to much above 50 percent by year-end. “The budgets from election campaigns will not compensate for losses brought about by the industry being blocked for six months,” said Ispas, Managing Director of ARBOmedia and of European Media Investment (EMI) Romania.
The political factor has already influenced the dynamics of the print market in September. If, in previous years, September was one of the best months in terms of revenues from publicity, September is now the weakest period now, for most press companies, similar to January-February, Ispas said. The manager added that the print advertising market fell by more than half in the first three quarters. According to the official, local newspapers dropped by less than national newspapers, while their revenues from publicity declined 35-50 percent.