Closer to the truth
Large Circulation Titles: The readership figures for titles with standard and large circulations have been recalculated. They are not comparable to the previous year's figures.
Large circulations The readership figures for titles with normal and large circulations have been recalculated. The changeover of Mach Basic from the K1 to the LpA value marked the beginning of years of unpleasantness for publishers of large-circulation titles (see box). These now seem to have come to an end. "The new figures are now closer to reality than those of the last three years," says Mathis Lüdin, publisher of Basellandschaftliche Zeitung, breathing a sigh of relief. This is understandable: according to Mach Basic 2004, his newspaper has 107,000 readers in large circulation (GA), compared to around 25,000 fewer in each of the last three years. The Thurgauer Zeitung (TZ) now reports 134,000 readers, compared with between 9,000,000 and 104,000 between 2001 and 2003. "The new figures are closer to the truth and more plausible," says publishing director Urs Bucher. And Erland Herkenrath, Managing Director of Zürichsee-Presse AG, adds: "I think these are now the hardest figures we have ever had." The GA of his Zürichsee-Zeitung rose from 106,000 to 120,000 copies.
However, the new GA figures have nothing to do with a sudden increase in additional editions, they have methodological reasons: Wemf surveys titles with GA differently. "If an interviewee states in the Mach Basic interviews that they read a title with a GA, they are now asked three additional questions at the end of the interview," explains Harald Amschler, Head of Research at Wemf. The questions are used to clarify how and with what regularity the interviewee participates in
the newspaper edition in question. Because the additional circulation of a GA is distributed free of charge, readers can be assigned with a high degree of certainty to either the normal or additional circulation of a title thanks to the additional information. "The readership of the GA is then calculated by adding the readers of the normal and supplementary editions," says Amschler. In addition, the additional circulation is now treated like a weekly newspaper in terms of calculating reach.
The GA were underestimatedIt is important to note that the new approach changes the values of both the normal and the GA. The readership figures for titles that use a GA are therefore no longer comparable with the previous readership figures. This also applies to combined editions in which they are involved. Or for complete editions such as Südostschweiz, Mittelland Zeitung and St. Galler Tagblatt, which contain individual titles with a GA (such as Limmattaler Tagblatt, March Höfe Zeitung ...). "With the previous method, we tended to overestimate the normal circulation and really underestimate the GA," admits Amschler. Based on the readership figures for 2003, however, the reduction in normal circulation is minimal and is consistently within last year's confidence range.
The Basellandschaftliche Zeitung is a double exception. It is the only title with a GA that shows an increase even in normal circulation, and a significant one at that, if you compare it (illegally) with last year's figures. Lüdin assumes that this means he can reap the first fruits of the early delivery introduced almost two years ago. "For the first time in years, we haven't lost any circulation in this year's circulation certification, and now we've even lost circulation in
more readers than the normal circulation. That shows me that my newspaper is on the up," he says happily.
The tale of woe of the large-circulation titlesIn the first LpA-Mach-Basic 2000, Wemf did not collect the readership value for the GA separately, but as a mixed value, which was higher than the previous K1 value for the normal circulation and lower than that for the GA.
At the insistence of the publishers, for whom the GA accounts for 25 to 65 percent of total revenue, Wemf found a way to collect the GA separately again: If, for example, a title with a Wednesday GA was mentioned in the Mach Basic interviews on Thursday, the mentions were counted towards the GA because of the question about "reading yesterday". On the other hand, Wemf added the mentions on the other days of the week to the normal circulation.
The result: In the Mach Basic 2001, the GA were again
The figures are shown separately, but according to the figures, the additional copies distributed free of charge generated far fewer readers than the normal circulation sold. Some free copies even performed worse than free newspapers. No wonder the publishers once again questioned the results. With the new solution found by a German expert, they now seem to have been proved right. (mk)
The previous method overestimated normal print runs and underestimated large print runs.
Daniel Schifferle
However, the new GA figures have nothing to do with a sudden increase in additional editions, they have methodological reasons: Wemf surveys titles with GA differently. "If an interviewee states in the Mach Basic interviews that they read a title with a GA, they are now asked three additional questions at the end of the interview," explains Harald Amschler, Head of Research at Wemf. The questions are used to clarify how and with what regularity the interviewee participates in
the newspaper edition in question. Because the additional circulation of a GA is distributed free of charge, readers can be assigned with a high degree of certainty to either the normal or additional circulation of a title thanks to the additional information. "The readership of the GA is then calculated by adding the readers of the normal and supplementary editions," says Amschler. In addition, the additional circulation is now treated like a weekly newspaper in terms of calculating reach.
The GA were underestimatedIt is important to note that the new approach changes the values of both the normal and the GA. The readership figures for titles that use a GA are therefore no longer comparable with the previous readership figures. This also applies to combined editions in which they are involved. Or for complete editions such as Südostschweiz, Mittelland Zeitung and St. Galler Tagblatt, which contain individual titles with a GA (such as Limmattaler Tagblatt, March Höfe Zeitung ...). "With the previous method, we tended to overestimate the normal circulation and really underestimate the GA," admits Amschler. Based on the readership figures for 2003, however, the reduction in normal circulation is minimal and is consistently within last year's confidence range.
The Basellandschaftliche Zeitung is a double exception. It is the only title with a GA that shows an increase even in normal circulation, and a significant one at that, if you compare it (illegally) with last year's figures. Lüdin assumes that this means he can reap the first fruits of the early delivery introduced almost two years ago. "For the first time in years, we haven't lost any circulation in this year's circulation certification, and now we've even lost circulation in
more readers than the normal circulation. That shows me that my newspaper is on the up," he says happily.
The tale of woe of the large-circulation titlesIn the first LpA-Mach-Basic 2000, Wemf did not collect the readership value for the GA separately, but as a mixed value, which was higher than the previous K1 value for the normal circulation and lower than that for the GA.
At the insistence of the publishers, for whom the GA accounts for 25 to 65 percent of total revenue, Wemf found a way to collect the GA separately again: If, for example, a title with a Wednesday GA was mentioned in the Mach Basic interviews on Thursday, the mentions were counted towards the GA because of the question about "reading yesterday". On the other hand, Wemf added the mentions on the other days of the week to the normal circulation.
The result: In the Mach Basic 2001, the GA were again
The figures are shown separately, but according to the figures, the additional copies distributed free of charge generated far fewer readers than the normal circulation sold. Some free copies even performed worse than free newspapers. No wonder the publishers once again questioned the results. With the new solution found by a German expert, they now seem to have been proved right. (mk)
The previous method overestimated normal print runs and underestimated large print runs.
Daniel Schifferle
