Germany: The battle for Sunday readers is on
For years, the market seemed clinically dead. In the Sunday newspaper market, the competition appeared to have thrown in the towel in the face of the dominance of the Springer publications *Bild am Sonntag* and *Welt am Sonntag*. Now everything is changing.
For years, the market seemed clinically dead. In the Sunday business, the competition seemed to have laid down their arms in the face of the supremacy of the Springer papers Bild am Sonntag and Welt am Sonntag. Now everything is changing. Only the Frankfurter Allgemeine ventured onto the market in 2001 with a Sunday edition, which will close this year in the profit zone for the first time. Despite the online boom, publishers are returning to their core business, writes the Financial Times Deutschland (FTD). Although the figures are sobering - industry leader Bild am Sonntag lost almost 30,000 copies in terms of paid circulation compared to the previous year - the FTD predicts a boom in Sunday newspapers. "This will be a new hotspot for quality journalism," adds trend researcher Eike Wenzel.
In Hamburg, the Morgenpost am Sonntag and the Sonntags of Axel Springer are having a hot fall battle. Springer had no plans for a Sunday edition of its evening paper, but when the Morgenpost announced a seventh edition at a price of 90 cents, the major publisher reacted promptly and launched a Sunday product on the market a week before the competition - for 50 cents. The Morgenpost then lowered the price to 70 cents and exceeded sales expectations twice over. In addition, Schleswig-Holstein am Sonntag started with a completely sold-out circulation.
A whole series of Sunday papers are now about to be launched: from 2007, the Rheinpfalz will also be published on Sundays and the Berliner Zeitung is also poring over concepts. The launch of the Sunday edition of Süddeutsche Zeitung in late summer 2007 is also eagerly awaited. Not everyone shares the euphoria: leisure researcher Michael Opaschowski sees the danger of cannibalization: "The regional print advertising market is limited. Investments that are put into the Sunday paper are missing the quality offensive that the weekday edition urgently needs."
In Hamburg, the Morgenpost am Sonntag and the Sonntags of Axel Springer are having a hot fall battle. Springer had no plans for a Sunday edition of its evening paper, but when the Morgenpost announced a seventh edition at a price of 90 cents, the major publisher reacted promptly and launched a Sunday product on the market a week before the competition - for 50 cents. The Morgenpost then lowered the price to 70 cents and exceeded sales expectations twice over. In addition, Schleswig-Holstein am Sonntag started with a completely sold-out circulation.
A whole series of Sunday papers are now about to be launched: from 2007, the Rheinpfalz will also be published on Sundays and the Berliner Zeitung is also poring over concepts. The launch of the Sunday edition of Süddeutsche Zeitung in late summer 2007 is also eagerly awaited. Not everyone shares the euphoria: leisure researcher Michael Opaschowski sees the danger of cannibalization: "The regional print advertising market is limited. Investments that are put into the Sunday paper are missing the quality offensive that the weekday edition urgently needs."
