Newspaper publishers may face more bankruptcies this year as advertising revenue plunges, according to an analyst for Standard & Poor's.

Ad sales at newspapers may decline almost 20 percent in 2009, S&P's Emile Courtney said Saturday at the McGraw-Hill Cos. Media Summit in New York.

Gannett Co., the publisher of USA Today, and New York Times Co. aren't likely candidates for bankruptcy, Courtney said, although he did not identify which publishers he thought were headed for bankruptcy.

Four newspaper publishers have sought protection from creditors in the bankruptcy courts since December, including Los Angeles Times owner Tribune Co. and the owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

E.W. Scripps Co. closed the Rocky Mountain News last month after failing to find a buyer. Hearst Corp. ended the print edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer this month when it couldn't sell the daily, shifting publication to a Web-only format.

Courtney said the switch to online-only "is very difficult" because the Web generates just 10 percent of total revenue for most newspaper publishers.

Hearst is also renegotiating contracts with employees of the San Francisco Chronicle to keep that daily afloat. Courtney said newspapers have a "limited market" for asset sales.

New York Times' recent $225 million sale-leaseback of its Manhattan headquarters and a $250 million financing deal with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim helped improve its ability to pay a $400 million credit facility that expires in May, Courtney said. He said he was "comfortable" that the BB- credit rating S&P assigned the company in October was appropriate.

New York Times lost 8 cents to $4.42 Friday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Gannett, based in McLean, Va., declined 11 cents to $2.14.