For every £154 newspapers lose in print revenue, they gain only £5 on the digital side

LONDON — Between 2015 and 2016, the tide turned swiftly against newspapers in Britain. A key threshold was crossed: smartphone ownership among people aged over 55 — the most important newspaper-reading demographic — nearly doubled:

• Smartphone ownership among those over 55:

• March 2015: 30% 

• March 2016: 55%

That one factor "has been the main driver of decline in demand for daily print," according to Enders Analysis, the media research firm.

Financially, the decline has been terrifically damaging for newspapers. For every £154 ($192) they lost in print revenue, they gained only £5 ($6.23) on the digital side:

Enders Analysis

Needless to say, that is crushing the UK print news market. Enders believes national newspaper advertising revenue will fall from £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) in 2011 to £533 million by 2019:

Enders Analysis

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SEE ALSO: This graph perfectly sums up the slow death of British newspapers