Ads in print have always been a better experience than ads in most other media.
Newspapers typically get / got most of their revenue from ads, more than from subscription or selling papers.
An example I heard a few years ago (don't quote me on the actual numbers): the Economist makes about 10 dollars on ads for every issue they sell. Almost no one would opt to buy a version of the print Economist that costs 10 dollars more to avoid the ads.
In contrast, broadcast TV makes about 20 cents on one viewer watching for an hour. Quite a few people would be willing to pay 20 cents to skip ads for an hour.
In that sense of (hypothetical) willingness to pay, ads in print are more economically efficient than ads in broadcast TV.
