Not a gift
Daniel Schifferle on a readership that has aged unexpectedly.
Daniel Schifferle on unexpectedly ageing readerships Demographics played the biggest trick on the Swiss print media this year: The readership of newspapers and magazines has aged statistically without even a single title actually attracting additional readers of a more mature age.The reason for this problematic development is the adjustment of Mach Basic to the data from the 2000 census; previously, the 1990 census formed the basis for the calculations. With this step, the ageing of society over the last ten years, which is actually a gradual process, is now becoming visible in one fell swoop. The young target group segments coveted by the advertising industry are thus becoming fewer in number, while the less popular old ones are swelling more and more.
This has drastic consequences for the individual titles. Newspapers with predominantly young target groups are clearly in a weaker position, as the example of 20 Minuten shows. Instead of 720,000 readers, there are now only 692,000 in the reweighted previous year's figures. This is due to the massive shrinkage in the 20 to 29 age segment, which has fallen by a whole quarter or almost 200,000 people in German-speaking Switzerland.
In contrast, the opposite has happened with titles with older target groups. Their readership has increased practically overnight, which is particularly evident in the case of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung: Instead of 324,000 readers in the previous year, the title actually had 343,000. The unexpected increase is primarily the result of the strong increase in the 50 to 59 age segment, which has grown by more than 16 percent.
In view of an advertising industry that primarily targets young audiences, this is not a welcome development. A small consolation: it is not only the press that is suffering, but the media in general. Because wherever audience research is carried out, the new age structure of society has the same negative consequences.
> Daniel Schifferle, Head of Department
Media & Media.
This has drastic consequences for the individual titles. Newspapers with predominantly young target groups are clearly in a weaker position, as the example of 20 Minuten shows. Instead of 720,000 readers, there are now only 692,000 in the reweighted previous year's figures. This is due to the massive shrinkage in the 20 to 29 age segment, which has fallen by a whole quarter or almost 200,000 people in German-speaking Switzerland.
In contrast, the opposite has happened with titles with older target groups. Their readership has increased practically overnight, which is particularly evident in the case of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung: Instead of 324,000 readers in the previous year, the title actually had 343,000. The unexpected increase is primarily the result of the strong increase in the 50 to 59 age segment, which has grown by more than 16 percent.
In view of an advertising industry that primarily targets young audiences, this is not a welcome development. A small consolation: it is not only the press that is suffering, but the media in general. Because wherever audience research is carried out, the new age structure of society has the same negative consequences.
> Daniel Schifferle, Head of Department
Media & Media.
