On the seventh day you shall read
Column Regional media companies are increasingly discovering the Sunday market. This has consequences.
Column Regional media companies are increasingly discovering the Sunday market. This has consequences. The seven lean years of the media industry are apparently over. Publishers are therefore no longer focusing on saving money. The economic upturn is tempting them to invest in projects. Media managers are focusing in particular on the publication of Sunday newspapers or seventh editions of daily newspapers. This will shake up a market previously dominated by the regional language offerings SonntagsBlick, SonntagsZeitung and NZZ am Sonntag. The Sunday market is to be regionalized. Reading requires peace and quiet and attention. In a hectic working day, it is not easy to concentrate on an article. Headlines in commuter newspapers and news services on the Internet are often the only media that can be digested during the working day. Working at a screen also tires the eyes. In the evening, watching TV or listening to a podcast saves the effort of reading.
However, Sunday is still free time for most people. The newspaper on the breakfast table can be read without constantly squinting at the clock. The time is ideal for sport, the good life and culture. The hard-earned money during the week is waiting to be spent. The Financial Times has long called its weekend lifestyle section "How to spend it" with Anglo-Saxon openness. Relaxation and indulgence at the weekend make people open to new and fine things. For advertisers, the timing is therefore ideal to whet the appetite for smaller and larger purchases.
The PR industry has long since discovered Sunday for itself. Whether a new project needs to be publicized or a competitor needs to be weakened - a call to an editorial office of your choice is all it takes. A primeur is always welcome. There is little time to critically analyze the tip. The headline is usually guaranteed. Agencies and electronic media like to take up the topic to bridge the weekend news lull.
However, journalistic pens can be sure of an attentive readership on Sundays, even without a whisperer. At the weekend, there is a great willingness to read analyses and background reports. After the excitement of the week, the editorial achievements of weighting and in-depth coverage provide an ideal framework for deciding for oneself what one wants to remember for longer. The Sunday papers also offer journalists an ideal platform in the news section: many things that receive little attention during the week and are hardly worth reporting make it onto the front page on Sunday.
Despite the many arguments in favor of Sunday papers, the regional media companies have to make tough calculations. It is true that new offerings generally also create new demand. Nevertheless, revenues in the advertising and readership markets cannot be increased indefinitely. In terms of advertising, there is a risk that the weekly editions will be thinned out, while readers' willingness to spend more on top of their existing subscriptions is limited.
On the cost side, editing, printing and distribution require additional investment. The regional editions must provide substantial additional services in terms of content so that they can differentiate themselves from their regional-language competitors and the weekday press. In terms of publishing, certain synergies can be exploited, but here too it is not possible without additional efforts and innovations: In the highly competitive media markets, everyone wants to be intensively courted.
No success without risk: poker is part of the media business. That's why there will be a few surprises to disturb our Sunday rest in the future. Thanks to increased journalistic competition, readers can look forward to a few reading pleasures.
Josefa Haas is head of the Media Institute.
However, Sunday is still free time for most people. The newspaper on the breakfast table can be read without constantly squinting at the clock. The time is ideal for sport, the good life and culture. The hard-earned money during the week is waiting to be spent. The Financial Times has long called its weekend lifestyle section "How to spend it" with Anglo-Saxon openness. Relaxation and indulgence at the weekend make people open to new and fine things. For advertisers, the timing is therefore ideal to whet the appetite for smaller and larger purchases.
The PR industry has long since discovered Sunday for itself. Whether a new project needs to be publicized or a competitor needs to be weakened - a call to an editorial office of your choice is all it takes. A primeur is always welcome. There is little time to critically analyze the tip. The headline is usually guaranteed. Agencies and electronic media like to take up the topic to bridge the weekend news lull.
However, journalistic pens can be sure of an attentive readership on Sundays, even without a whisperer. At the weekend, there is a great willingness to read analyses and background reports. After the excitement of the week, the editorial achievements of weighting and in-depth coverage provide an ideal framework for deciding for oneself what one wants to remember for longer. The Sunday papers also offer journalists an ideal platform in the news section: many things that receive little attention during the week and are hardly worth reporting make it onto the front page on Sunday.
Despite the many arguments in favor of Sunday papers, the regional media companies have to make tough calculations. It is true that new offerings generally also create new demand. Nevertheless, revenues in the advertising and readership markets cannot be increased indefinitely. In terms of advertising, there is a risk that the weekly editions will be thinned out, while readers' willingness to spend more on top of their existing subscriptions is limited.
On the cost side, editing, printing and distribution require additional investment. The regional editions must provide substantial additional services in terms of content so that they can differentiate themselves from their regional-language competitors and the weekday press. In terms of publishing, certain synergies can be exploited, but here too it is not possible without additional efforts and innovations: In the highly competitive media markets, everyone wants to be intensively courted.
No success without risk: poker is part of the media business. That's why there will be a few surprises to disturb our Sunday rest in the future. Thanks to increased journalistic competition, readers can look forward to a few reading pleasures.
Josefa Haas is head of the Media Institute.
