Results matching “german dailies”

German market research company, Mindline Media, have released a survey indicating that the German public would like free papers.

Germany is one of the few markets in Europe which has not seen the launch of free dailies.

A thousand people between the age of 14 and 49 were questioned and 46% thought free papers would make newspapers in general more attractive. The survey also revealed that 40% wanted smaller (tabloid) newspapers. Mindline reported that Germans would like more local news (36%) and more flexible subscriptions - for instance weekend-only - (30%).

More pictures and comics were only favoured by a small minority.

Source: EJC Media, Newspaper Innovation and Horizant

Axel Springer announced plans to launch a free weekly, Berliner Morgenpost Wochenend-Extra on 20 September.  

Springer has been one of the most outspoken adversaries of free newspapers so this comes as a surprise shift in strategy.   

The paper will be distributed in the Berlin area by Deutsche Post and will have a circulation of one million.  It will contain articles from the previous week's Berliner Morgenpost, the paid Berlin paper.

Springer has been loosing young readers with their paid papers which is probably a main reason for the launch of a new free weekly.  Springer's director Mathias Döpfner sees the free paper as an "appetizer" to buy the paid one.

Germany has been a paid-for newspaper only market up until now; could Springer's move spark a change in the overall German market? Springer's move could certainly cause other players to move into this field, other newspaper groups, such as WAZ, reportedly have funds available to launch free newspapers in the event of a move such as Springer's launch of Berliner Morgenpost Wochenend-Extra.

Sources: Newspaper Innovation

See also:

Germany: Why the lack of free dailies?
Germany: Axel Springer plans online expansion through acquisitions and new units

91.4% of the Swiss population read a newspaper on a regular basis according to an annual survey recently published, and newspapers remain the favored news source.

The survey also indicated that there has been an increasing interest in free dailies.

There are three main languages in Switzerland, German (64%), French (20%) and Italian (6,5%), so there are no "national" newspapers.


Sources:  Follow the Media, Newspaper Innovation

See Also:
Switzerland: Free daily newspapers move ahead 

The German market at first appearance would seem the perfect place to start up a free daily newspaper, but the market remains untapped, report Newspaper Innovations. German publishers seem determinedly anti-free dailies, overlooking the chance they represent.

Metro and Schibsted wanted to go to Germany while Dagsbrun also (Iceland) made plans. These incumbents have met with difficulty in the home market. Springer reportedly has a 'war fund' of EUR300 million ready and could launch competitor Gratissimo 'within days', and WAZ - the second largest German publisher - also wants to fight a free daily launch.

FTD cites 'informed sources' who report that it would take at least six years for a German project to break even, and that it would cost at least EUR400 million. Newspaper Innovation ask how this figure is calculated as launching costs are between EUR10 and EUR20 million in Spain, France, UK and the Netherlands.

The article even states that the actions of some players in the market could be for the attention of the Bundeskartellambt, the German anti-competition agency.

Source: Newspaper Innovation via IFRA Executive News Search
 

A new freesheet, ‘.ch’ was launched in Switzerland. Interestingly, it positions itself as a quality paper while also being home-delivered.

Axel Springer’s project for a Bild-type title in France has been confirmed, to be launched in the second half of 2007. Yet the French Bild won’t – can’t – follow the same success formula of its German tabloid counterpart, because of France’s different news culture.

Prazsky deník, the Czech Republic latest newspaper, was launched on Monday September 18 by Czech publisher Vltava-Labe-Press (VLP). The daily has an initial print run of 100.000 copies and its staff counts 90 people, including editor-in-chief Matej Husek, formerly working at the competitor Pràvo.

In their presentation for the upcoming Capital Markets Day, Norwegian publisher Schibsted officially put the German launch of the free daily 20 Minuten on hold. The title is successful in Spain and France, while also the Swiss edition, owned by Tamedia since 2005, is performing well. The risk of a launch in Germany - Europe largest newspaper market, and the only major market without free dailies - is probably too high. The company, however, is evaluating a launch in "1-2 smaller countries" of the concept. Schibsted also made clear in the presentation that they prefer to operate with partners in joint ventures - this may also have been a reason for the not-launching in Germany.

Last week readership data for Switzerland, published by WEMF REMP, showed big gains for the free paper 20 Minuten, reports KleinReport. 20 Minuten increased from 782,000 to 948,000 readers year on year, partly due to the launching of new editions, and is the biggest newspaper in the (German speaking part of the) country. The Zurich tabloid Blick lost 19,000 readers in the same time, reaching now 717,000. The well-respected Neue Zürcher Zeitung increased readership year on year from 316,000 to 331,000, but is far behind 20 Minuten. While most German language daily newspapers showed slightly decreased readership, Sunday papers (SonntagsBlick, SonntagsZeitung and NZZ am Sonntag) could increase their readership.

The biggest daily in the French speaking part, Le Matin, increased its readership from 331,000 to 353,000. Many other French languages dailies lost readers. Le Matin's publisher Edipresse plans to launch a free paper in the French speaking part before the end of the year (see former posting). The biggest Italian language daily newspaper Corriere de Ticino slightly increased readership from 113,000 to 119,000. Other Italian language dailies increased readership as well (La Regione Ticino: 111,000 from 94,000, Il Caffè della Domenica: 125,000 from 106,000, Il Mattino della Domenica: 88 000 from 82 000).

Sources: KleinReport (in German), The Guardian

Thanks to Alain Neuville, ANIMA CEO, for his authorization to publish his toughths when they are related to newspapers. This week, Alain analyzed the situation of the European Newspaper industry:

"There is at least one metric that is broadly shared by a great majority of countries; newspapers readership and circulation slump. Newspaper readership posts -0.6% in Italy. Circulation of national titles dropped by 0.5% in France. Circulation and readership are falling in Ireland. All the data recently released are in the red. The national dailies have been losing readers for some time now. The regional press had remained one of the few positive shelters in the British market. It is no longer the case since the last ABC figures have been released. In light of this difficult situation, publishers have to find new solutions..."

Thanks to Alain Neuville, ANIMA CEO, for his authorization to publish his toughths when they are related to newspapers. This week, Alain analyzed the situation of the European Newspaper industry:

"There is at least one metric that is broadly shared by a great majority of countries; newspapers readership and circulation slump. Newspaper readership posts -0.6% in Italy. Circulation of national titles dropped by 0.5% in France. Circulation and readership are falling in Ireland. All the data recently released are in the red. The national dailies have been losing readers for some time now. The regional press had remained one of the few positive shelters in the British market. It is no longer the case since the last ABC figures have been released. In light of this difficult situation, publishers have to find new solutions..."

Thanks to Alain Neuville, ANIMA CEO, for his authorization to publish his toughths when they are related to newspapers. This week, Alain analyzed the situation of the European Newspaper industry:

"There is at least one metric that is broadly shared by a great majority of countries; newspapers readership and circulation slump. Newspaper readership posts -0.6% in Italy. Circulation of national titles dropped by 0.5% in France. Circulation and readership are falling in Ireland. All the data recently released are in the red. The national dailies have been losing readers for some time now. The regional press had remained one of the few positive shelters in the British market. It is no longer the case since the last ABC figures have been released. In light of this difficult situation, publishers have to find new solutions..."

The editor of one of the most important Austrian dailies (with Der Standard) has changed: Die Presse chefredakteur is now Michael Fleischhacker.

Source: Der Standard (in German)

In 2003, the German quality newspapers lost regular buyers. The drop of circulation was around 3% for Die Welt and the Frankfurter Rundschau and more than 1,5% for the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). Figures were also bad for Bild, not precisely a quality newspaper. Conclusion: same trend in Germany and in France.

Source: Netzeitung (in German) and the Ifra newsletter.