SRG and cable network operators are the big winners
Media: On average, Swiss men and women spend a good 3,000 francs on media each year—a 10-billion-franc industry.
Media Every year, the average Swiss spends a good 3,000 francs on media - a 10-billion-franc business. Let the figure melt in your mouth: private households in Switzerland invest 9.4 billion francs in newspapers, magazines, the Internet, cable networks, radio and television fees, TV sets, computers, cinemas and books - every year. "The economic importance of the media is finally becoming clear. Media are not a quantité négligeable," says Hanspeter Lebrument, President of the Swiss Press Association. However, media consumers only spend around 20 percent or CHF 600 of the average CHF 3,000 per household on print media. This is the result of a study entitled "medienbudget.ch", which was carried out for the first time by a project group led by communications consultant Thérèse Ruedin on behalf of the Swiss Press Association. Private households spend 24.7 percent on PCs and the Internet and 22.5 percent on television (concessions, cable fees, pay TV and hardware). Only 20.2% is spent on print media. The remaining percentages are divided between consumer electronics (15.5%), books (9.4%), radio (5%) and cinema (2.7%).
The development over time shows a steady increase in media expenditure. In 2004, it rose by 3.5 percent compared to the previous year. However, this growth relates almost exclusively to electronic media. The Swiss spend around a fifth more on concessions and cable networks with government-imposed prices alone than on all print media combined.
The study is the first of its kind in Europe and for the first time provides an impression of how much people value their media consumption. Lebrument notes with satisfaction the possibility of comparing the income of the fee-based state media and the free market, which gives hope for more political decisions in favor of the private media in the future. Together with the foreign print titles available on newsstands, around 3,500 newspapers and magazines are permanently available in Switzerland. Nevertheless, the average amount spent on press products in this country is only CHF 600, of which almost two thirds is spent on subscriptions and the rest on individual sales. Last year, growth amounted to just 0.6 percent, with single copy sales actually falling by 1.9 percent. The strongest sales relate to the daily, regional weekly and Sunday press (+1 percent), while the general, financial and business press slumped (-3 percent). Nevertheless, stability is high with a wide range of products.
The "medienbudget.ch" study also identifies stable sales for books, which have remained unchanged since 2002 with annual sales of CHF 900 million. The cinema industry is experiencing an upswing (+5.5 percent compared to 2003). Multiplex cinemas have a market share of 23 percent, while open-air movie theaters have a share of only 2.8 percent.
SRG gobbles up the mostIn contrast, the big winners are the cable network operators and SRG SSR idée suisse. The study shows that SRG, which is privileged in terms of license fees, devours the lion's share of the media expenditure of private Swiss households. In 2004, license fees alone accounted for almost two thirds of the total amount spent on print titles. If you add the expenditure on pay-TV subscriptions and fees for the cable network - 90 percent of households are wired - then the expenditure is roughly the same. If the annual expenditure on new devices is also included, expenditure on newspapers and magazines is 36% higher.
In addition, recorded music, DVDs, PC and video games, including players, video and hi-fi systems and car electronics, account for CHF 1.5 billion a year. The recorded music business has plummeted by a quarter to 231 million francs since 2000 as a result of illegal music downloads. In contrast, DVD sales skyrocketed by 25 percent in a single year to a total of 249 million francs. This is a real success story, even though only 45% of all private households have DVD-capable players. The Swiss spent 147 million francs on PC and video games, 17 percent less than in the previous year. According to the study, this slump is due to price and margin erosion as well as supply bottlenecks.
Private internet users in Switzerland spent around CHF 2.3 billion on computers and the internet last year. The segment thus grew by 12.2 percent. CHF 1.5 billion was spent on hardware and basic software, CHF 444 million on broadband connections (+53.6%) and CHF 385 million on Internet downloads. Broadband connections, which are already available to 770000 Internet surfers in Switzerland, are experiencing explosive growth. Following a slump in sales in 2003 and an increase in 2004 (+4.3%), further growth is expected in 2005 and 2006, particularly in the area of PC installations and hardware.
The kiosks cooperatedThe study was able to base its secondary statistical data collection on data from around 17 companies, institutions and associations from the public and private sectors. "For the first time, the kiosks agreed to make their sales data available to us," explains project manager Thérèse Ruedin.
The big telecoms providers, on the other hand, have bitten off more than they can chew and have steadfastly refused to provide insight into their figures. Ruedin suspects that the big players do not want to be shown their cards, as the business volumes involved are probably huge. The "medienbudget.ch" study is to be published annually in future.
René Worni
The development over time shows a steady increase in media expenditure. In 2004, it rose by 3.5 percent compared to the previous year. However, this growth relates almost exclusively to electronic media. The Swiss spend around a fifth more on concessions and cable networks with government-imposed prices alone than on all print media combined.
The study is the first of its kind in Europe and for the first time provides an impression of how much people value their media consumption. Lebrument notes with satisfaction the possibility of comparing the income of the fee-based state media and the free market, which gives hope for more political decisions in favor of the private media in the future. Together with the foreign print titles available on newsstands, around 3,500 newspapers and magazines are permanently available in Switzerland. Nevertheless, the average amount spent on press products in this country is only CHF 600, of which almost two thirds is spent on subscriptions and the rest on individual sales. Last year, growth amounted to just 0.6 percent, with single copy sales actually falling by 1.9 percent. The strongest sales relate to the daily, regional weekly and Sunday press (+1 percent), while the general, financial and business press slumped (-3 percent). Nevertheless, stability is high with a wide range of products.
The "medienbudget.ch" study also identifies stable sales for books, which have remained unchanged since 2002 with annual sales of CHF 900 million. The cinema industry is experiencing an upswing (+5.5 percent compared to 2003). Multiplex cinemas have a market share of 23 percent, while open-air movie theaters have a share of only 2.8 percent.
SRG gobbles up the mostIn contrast, the big winners are the cable network operators and SRG SSR idée suisse. The study shows that SRG, which is privileged in terms of license fees, devours the lion's share of the media expenditure of private Swiss households. In 2004, license fees alone accounted for almost two thirds of the total amount spent on print titles. If you add the expenditure on pay-TV subscriptions and fees for the cable network - 90 percent of households are wired - then the expenditure is roughly the same. If the annual expenditure on new devices is also included, expenditure on newspapers and magazines is 36% higher.
In addition, recorded music, DVDs, PC and video games, including players, video and hi-fi systems and car electronics, account for CHF 1.5 billion a year. The recorded music business has plummeted by a quarter to 231 million francs since 2000 as a result of illegal music downloads. In contrast, DVD sales skyrocketed by 25 percent in a single year to a total of 249 million francs. This is a real success story, even though only 45% of all private households have DVD-capable players. The Swiss spent 147 million francs on PC and video games, 17 percent less than in the previous year. According to the study, this slump is due to price and margin erosion as well as supply bottlenecks.
Private internet users in Switzerland spent around CHF 2.3 billion on computers and the internet last year. The segment thus grew by 12.2 percent. CHF 1.5 billion was spent on hardware and basic software, CHF 444 million on broadband connections (+53.6%) and CHF 385 million on Internet downloads. Broadband connections, which are already available to 770000 Internet surfers in Switzerland, are experiencing explosive growth. Following a slump in sales in 2003 and an increase in 2004 (+4.3%), further growth is expected in 2005 and 2006, particularly in the area of PC installations and hardware.
The kiosks cooperatedThe study was able to base its secondary statistical data collection on data from around 17 companies, institutions and associations from the public and private sectors. "For the first time, the kiosks agreed to make their sales data available to us," explains project manager Thérèse Ruedin.
The big telecoms providers, on the other hand, have bitten off more than they can chew and have steadfastly refused to provide insight into their figures. Ruedin suspects that the big players do not want to be shown their cards, as the business volumes involved are probably huge. The "medienbudget.ch" study is to be published annually in future.
René Worni
