Publishers rely on the Internet and abroad

New sources of revenue such as the Internet, ancillary businesses and foreign activities are becoming increasingly important for magazine and newspaper publishers. Their share of total sales is expected to more than double from the current 12 percent to 25 percent over the next three years. This is according to the study "Growth areas for publishers" by the Association of German Magazine Publishers (VDZ). The share of Internet sales is expected to rise from the current 4.6 percent to 11.6 percent by 2009, while the share of mobile services is expected to increase from 0.2 to 2.0 percent. One fifth of publishers already have concrete plans for Internet TV. However, the international sector also holds potential for growth: according to the survey, more than half of publishers are already active internationally. In terms of ancillary business, two thirds of publishers currently offer books, CDs or DVDs, but see little potential for future growth in the area of so-called publishing-related additional products and services.
A total of 60 publishers (21 consumer magazine publishers, 33 trade magazine publishers and six newspaper publishers) were surveyed for the study by VDZ in collaboration with the consulting firm KPMG and Prof. Dr. Manfred Schweiger from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich on the relevance, sustainability and success factors of growth areas and their impact on the core business.