Talking to more than 240 marketing delegates at the 2009 Annual ISBA Conference today, Eyre warned: "The paper newspaper is a goner."
Weakened by starvation caused by the depravation of cover price, classified and display revenues, Eyre forecast many newspapers will suffer a "death from a thousand cuts" made by a myriad of global online services.
And although such changes won't happen overnight, Eyre urged delegates to start thinking about its effect on advertising and other customer interactions now.
The former ITV chief believes that classified ads simply work better online, and he could not envisage large portions of the display ads ever coming back to print.
He predicts a future for global news brands that can afford key commentators and demand the attention of the news makers. Similarly, he foresees a place for the specialist providers too, who provide authority on subjects outside of the mainstream interests.
However, he said the gap between the two is a chasm "into which many of today's newspapers will fall".
Eyre also dismissed the argument that established print titles will be protected by being trusted mines of information, insisting: "Today, the idea is more important than the brand."
He added it was not just the press that was reeling from the "digital headbutt", noting that all traditional media is now moving online. He urged media owners across the board to put their differences to one side to work together to drive better decisions.
He called upon media owner representatives who provide online studies - BARB, NRS, RAJAR and UKOM - to explore a unified approach to tracking online ads.
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