Off to the broom wagon
After failed sales attempts, the bike magazine Move is discontinued
After unsuccessful sales attempts, the bike magazine Move is being discontinuedBy Daniel SchifferleFischer Media AG, which was redimensioned in April, has now had to announce the discontinuation of one of its publishing products: No buyer could be found for the bike magazine Move. The June issue was therefore also the last. Conclusion: the Swiss market is too small for this
Special interest title.
When Fischer Media announced in April that it wanted to concentrate on the printing business in future and was therefore shedding all its publishing products, everything still looked good (WW 16/01). Solutions had been found or were close at hand for the nature, leisure and service publications. Also for the bike magazine Move. But only two months later, Move was discontinued. With the June issue, readers already had the last issue in their hands.
"We had hoped that someone else would be able to make the magazine work better. In the end, however, all interested parties withdrew," says Hans-Rudolf Wiederkehr, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fischer Media AG, summing up the efforts of the past few weeks. His conclusion: "The Swiss market is too small for our own bike magazine." All conceivable options were considered before the final decision was made to discontinue the magazine. In the end, the editors-in-chief even considered continuing the magazine themselves. "But the calculation was simply too uncertain. It was neither enough to live on nor enough to die on," Wiederkehr states.
Despite "doping", hardly any new readers and advertisements were added
Move first saw the light of day eight years ago. According to Wiederkehr, the problems had worsened in the last two years in particular. Although Move has never been a goldmine, the magazine was in the black in its good years. In the last two years, however, demand from both readers and advertisers has fallen sharply.
Last year, an attempt was made to turn the tide. A broader positioning should bring the magazine more readers and advertisers. For this reason, the pure bike magazine was quickly transformed into an outdoor magazine with a focus on biking. This step did not turn things around either. According to Wiederkehr, no new audience groups could be tapped into. The magazine's final print run (not Wemf-approved) was 25,600 copies.
Nevertheless, Wiederkehr emphasizes that it was not Move that was Fischer Media AG's biggest problem child, but Astrea, the magazine of the pharmacists' association. "If Move had been our only publishing object, we could have redimensioned it and just about got away with it," Wiederkehr is convinced. There is no longer any need to prove this.
Special interest title.
When Fischer Media announced in April that it wanted to concentrate on the printing business in future and was therefore shedding all its publishing products, everything still looked good (WW 16/01). Solutions had been found or were close at hand for the nature, leisure and service publications. Also for the bike magazine Move. But only two months later, Move was discontinued. With the June issue, readers already had the last issue in their hands.
"We had hoped that someone else would be able to make the magazine work better. In the end, however, all interested parties withdrew," says Hans-Rudolf Wiederkehr, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fischer Media AG, summing up the efforts of the past few weeks. His conclusion: "The Swiss market is too small for our own bike magazine." All conceivable options were considered before the final decision was made to discontinue the magazine. In the end, the editors-in-chief even considered continuing the magazine themselves. "But the calculation was simply too uncertain. It was neither enough to live on nor enough to die on," Wiederkehr states.
Despite "doping", hardly any new readers and advertisements were added
Move first saw the light of day eight years ago. According to Wiederkehr, the problems had worsened in the last two years in particular. Although Move has never been a goldmine, the magazine was in the black in its good years. In the last two years, however, demand from both readers and advertisers has fallen sharply.
Last year, an attempt was made to turn the tide. A broader positioning should bring the magazine more readers and advertisers. For this reason, the pure bike magazine was quickly transformed into an outdoor magazine with a focus on biking. This step did not turn things around either. According to Wiederkehr, no new audience groups could be tapped into. The magazine's final print run (not Wemf-approved) was 25,600 copies.
Nevertheless, Wiederkehr emphasizes that it was not Move that was Fischer Media AG's biggest problem child, but Astrea, the magazine of the pharmacists' association. "If Move had been our only publishing object, we could have redimensioned it and just about got away with it," Wiederkehr is convinced. There is no longer any need to prove this.
