WSJ ad sales tank -- Rupert to the rescue?

I wouldn't blame the Bancroft family if they took some comfort today in knowing that the bleeding of Wall Street Journal's advertising revenues, which declined sharply in July, are News Corp's (NYSE: NWS) problem now. Murdoch seems to have his work cut out for him, too. The Dow Jones (NYSE:DJ) paper's ad revenues were down 7.2% for the month over 2006, on a decline in volume of 20.9%. For the year, ad revenues are off 4.6%. The company's Barron Magazine suffered an even great drop of 9.5%, but remains up 15.8% for the year.

The drop off is especially foreboding given that the WSJ's digital edition ad sales revenue grew a whopping 24%, but still did not completely offset the shortfall in the tree-based edition. Technology ads declined the most, off over 75%, followed by classifieds, down 13.5%. Much of the classifieds drop is attributed to a decline in property for-sale ads, another casualty of the housing malaise. Strong ad sales in the financial sector helped soften the loss, though, up 21%.

The company's Ottaway Newspapers also lost advertising, down in ad revenue 16.5% for the month and 11.9% for the year.

The WSJ benefits from a strong circulation of over 2 million readers. Nonetheless, in 2006, 53.6% of Dow Jones' income came from advertising. Sharp, sudden loses are no way to please the new boss.