Communications

The communications industry is a multibillion-dollar business. The different industries that fall under the communications umbrella, as reported by the market research group IBISWorld, include public relations, advertising, publishing, and social networking sites. The public relations industry generates approximately $20.4 billion in revenue. As of February 2024, there were more than 48,705 public relations businesses in operation in the United States. The growth of social networking services and mobile devices will contribute to the PR industry’s continued growth in the next few years. The advertising industry is a $70 billion business, with more than 14,273 advertising agencies in the United States. In spite of the economic slowdown during the pandemic, the ad business has seen steady growth the past few years and that growth is expected to continue, thanks to the rise of digital mediums such as smartphones and tablets.

The publishing industry includes newspapers, magazines and periodicals, and books. Print publishing has been declining this past decade due to the increased popularity of Web-based content. IBISWorld reported the newspaper publishing industry generates $30.8 billion in revenue, reflecting a decline of 3.2 percent from 2019 to 2024. As of February 2024, there were only 4,644 newspaper publishing businesses in the United States. Magazine and periodical publishing companies did not fare well either, with an annual decline in growth of 1.5 percent in that same time frame. Magazine and periodical publishing, including such companies as Hearst Corporation and Time Inc., generated $40.1 billion in revenue and has about 4,878 companies in operation in the United States. Consumers continue to shift to digital media, further reducing subscription and advertising sales.

The book publishing industry had also been in decline since the growth of online content. Many companies have adapted to new technologies the past few years and restructured to accommodate consumers’ preferences, such as by publishing e-books. IBISWorld reported -.6 percent annual growth from 2019 to 2024. The book publishing industry is a $44.2 billion business, with about 3,049 publishing companies in operation in February 2024. Pent-up demand for books during the pandemic contributed a a slight rebound in sales in the book publishing industry, but rising prices of paper and book production costs continue to challenge the industry. The most durable segment of the publishing industry is the education market, including textbooks and scholarly books.

As expected, social networking sites will experience tremendous growth in the foreseeable future. There should be plenty of job opportunities for communications professionals at companies such as Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google, and Microsoft, to name only a few. IBISWorld reported the social networking industry is a $105 billion business that experienced nearly 14 percent annual growth between 2019 and 2024. As of June 2024, there were 23,984 social networking sites in the United States.