A rooster with many riddles
Vierwaldstätter Verlag has launched a second title and plans to release more
The biggest mystery surrounding Rüdiger Hahn, sole owner of Vierwaldstätter Verlags GmbH in Kastanienbaum LU, has still not been solved: Where did the money come from that allowed him to distribute his TV 4 in its first eight months with a print run of 300,000 copies, mostly free of charge, and to launch a second magazine, TV 4-Rätselspass, in spring 2002? Not to mention the money for the magazine planned for November 2002 (see box).
Conversely, there are indications that Hahn's publishing house has not always paid its invoices on time. However, the publisher does not want to comment on "such general rumors". Nevertheless: Hahn will reveal the secret about his source of money in the fall.
It is clear that there has to be one, because the magazines published by the small Vierwaldstätter Verlag (share capital CHF 40,000) are not self-supporting. Hahn states that TV 4 will break even in September and that the puzzle fun should cover its costs by the end of the year, the latter not counting advertisements! But he doesn't want to say anything about how this will be possible.
In any case, it can't be down to the ads, which are few and far between in both magazines. According to Hahn, TV 4 has had one paid advertising page each in the last few months at 8900 francs. The situation is similar with the new puzzle magazine, where the entire cover page costs 2900 francs for the time being. "The advertising business is not a priority for these titles, it is neglected," says Hahn casually.
It is also difficult to cover costs with subscriptions, even if these are apparently increasing. Hahn says that TV 4 currently has 20,000 paying subscribers, including some major customers such as hotels who buy several copies, which means that 25,000 copies are sold via subscriptions. The newsstand circulation is currently 35,000 copies, of which 25,000 are sold per month, according to Hahn. For comparison: last fall, TV 4 sold 14,000 copies via subscriptions and 19,000 copies at newsstands.
Many puzzles also want to be solved in airplanes
In the case of the 34-page, full-color family puzzle booklet, which was launched without communication and a free print run and was only distributed via newsstands, even Hahn reportedly does not know how many copies he has sold so far at a price of four francs. Nevertheless, he has reduced the newsstand circulation from an initial 20,000 to 15,000 copies. On the other hand, a free puzzle is now enclosed with the TV 4 program booklet for the first time - a promotion that Hahn only wants to run twice.
In the meantime, newspaper publishers are said to have asked him to give the magazine to their subscribers as a supplement. In addition, Hahn wants to sell the unsold newsstand tours of his puzzle magazine to hotels, travel agencies or even an airline. Although his third title does not yet exist, Hahn is already thinking about a fourth or fifth. Further puzzle booklets for specific target groups are possible. But he also has something in mind for the lifestyle or car sectors.
Cheaper than two tele editions
Rüdiger Hahn is currently preparing the launch of a fortnightly TV program guide - "for a completely different target group to that of TV 4", as he says. With his third Swiss title, he is once again entering a niche that has so far only been occupied by the German titles TV 14, TV direkt, TV Movie, TV Spielfilm and TV today. With a price of around five francs, Hahn's magazine will cost about twice as much.
In terms of content and price, however, the 160-page magazine is likely to compete with Ringier's weekly title Tele (single price: CHF 3.60), as a four-person editorial team will report on multimedia, DVD, video, TV and film news on 25 pages. The first three issues will each comprise 500,000 copies, of which 100,000 will go to newsstands and the rest to all households regionally free of charge. This time Hahn is planning TV and radio spots, advertisements and an advertising event. For the new title, he is relying on advertisements and wants to see at least five per issue. The introductory price per page in the three large print runs will be "under 10,000 francs", says Hahn, who is pleased to have already sold two advertisements three times.
