Abstract

We discuss the disappearance of printed newspapers, an important transformation which is a result of, among other factors, the development of information and communication technologies, and the change of press consumers’ habits. By means of econometric models of quadratic regressions and co-integration models we try to approximate the year in which the diffusion of printed newspapers will be near to zero; next, we pose the same problem with regard to advertisement spending in the sector of the printed press because it is one of the main sources of revenue for newspapers. The results obtained do not predict a hopeful future in this sector; for the representative Spanish newspapers, El país, El mundo, La razón, and ABC, the conclusion is that they will have a negligible diffusion in printed formatbefore the year 2020.