Dumping on the Berner Zeitung: Strange legacy of Espace Media
For years, the Berner Zeitung has flooded the city of Bern with nearly 18,000 discounted subscriptions, thereby likely hindering fair journalistic competition with the Bund.
There is a persistent rumor in the industry: Tamedia will decide on the future of the Bund this week, according to reports. But Uli Rubner, the new publishing director of Berner Zeitung (BZ) and Bund, emphatically waves it away. "No," she says, "that would be too early. We still need time, we're certainly not making a quick decision."
And what is the situation on the subscription front? Uli Rubner will not be able to put a figure on the renewals due in January 2009 until around mid-March, after the second reminder runs. In principle, however, the main annual phase of subscription renewals for both the BZ and the Bund has been "within the normal range", she says. "So far, the drop-out rate for both titles has been comparable to that of previous years." Even after Tamedia's announcement that it was examining whether the Bund should cooperate with the Tages-Anzeiger or rather be integrated into the BZ, no "now more than ever" effect was noticeable. "This impression was created for a short time in December, but it proved to be neither significant nor sustainable," says Rubner.
Rubner is currently scrutinizing the two titles in order to assess the situation. "We are currently analyzing the composition of the circulation and the alternative distribution channels," says the publishing director. Rubner is referring to a special feature of the paid circulation of the BZ Stadt & Region Bern split. This so-called BZ city edition has almost 20,000 more copies than the circulation of the city newspaper Bund, which has a total of 54,233 copies. On closer inspection, however, it is clear that the circulation of the BZ-Stadtsplit is higher primarily because almost 18,000 copies are included in "other sales", i.e. copies that are sold at a discount of more than 50 percent. The Bund circulation also contains such heavily discounted copies, but only 2,424, and in contrast to the BZ city split with a strong downward trend (minus 28 percent).
Other titles also have copies in the "other sales" category. In terms of proportion, they are usually around the same size as the Confederation. Other sales" refers to copies that are distributed to restaurants, schools and libraries and generate a relatively high reach due to multiple users. Certain trial subscriptions, target sales and promotional copies also fall into this category. At the Solothurner Tagblatt (ST), another BZ split, such copies account for 40 percent of circulation, as the ST - in order to establish itself in the Solothurn area - offers its subscriptions very cheaply in the first year. However, the fact that the BZ-Stadtsplit also distributes around a quarter of its paid circulation in this way has never been a topic of public discussion, unlike the ST, even though they have been included in the circulation certification since 2007 and even though the BZ-Stadtausgabe has by far the highest proportion of low-cost subscriptions and copies of all subscription newspapers in German-speaking Switzerland - in absolute and percentage terms.
In the discussion about the future of the Bund, however, this part of the paid circulation is now becoming more explosive, as the following question arises: Has Espace Media virtually distorted the situation of the Bund over the years through one-sided marketing in favor of BZ? There are some indications that the almost 18,000 copies are a marketing relic from the time when the Bund and BZ were not part of the same publishing house and were therefore still competitors. The only strange thing is that these marketing copies were retained from 2005 onwards, thus keeping the circulation of the BZ-Stadtsplit high artificially and at great expense, instead of allowing genuine journalistic competition between the Bund and BZ to take place in the city of Berne.
Uli Rubner knows the figures. "After all, circulation is one of the first things you look at when you take responsibility for a title," she says. However, the analysis of how the "other sales" of the BZ city split are made up in detail is still ongoing. Rubner is therefore reluctant to comment. Every publisher decides for itself how it wants to generate its reach; ultimately, every contact with the relevant target group counts for the advertising industry, she says. "In this respect, it is legitimate to open up certain alternative sales channels to generate reach in addition to the fully paid circulation." After all, the two newspapers BZ and Bund have managed to achieve a reach of over 60 percent in Bern. This puts Tamedia's Bernese titles in a top position in terms of penetration rate in their relevant area. And as the more broadly positioned title, the BZ is the locomotive in the Bernese combination, Rubner points out. From a business perspective, however, the question can be asked as to which and to what extent such activities make sense: "These are expensive measures, the subscription revenue is low, and what's more, retail sales and paid subscriptions are cannibalized," adds Rubner. "That's why we have to examine very carefully what should and shouldn't be continued."
Markus Knöpfli
And what is the situation on the subscription front? Uli Rubner will not be able to put a figure on the renewals due in January 2009 until around mid-March, after the second reminder runs. In principle, however, the main annual phase of subscription renewals for both the BZ and the Bund has been "within the normal range", she says. "So far, the drop-out rate for both titles has been comparable to that of previous years." Even after Tamedia's announcement that it was examining whether the Bund should cooperate with the Tages-Anzeiger or rather be integrated into the BZ, no "now more than ever" effect was noticeable. "This impression was created for a short time in December, but it proved to be neither significant nor sustainable," says Rubner.
Rubner is currently scrutinizing the two titles in order to assess the situation. "We are currently analyzing the composition of the circulation and the alternative distribution channels," says the publishing director. Rubner is referring to a special feature of the paid circulation of the BZ Stadt & Region Bern split. This so-called BZ city edition has almost 20,000 more copies than the circulation of the city newspaper Bund, which has a total of 54,233 copies. On closer inspection, however, it is clear that the circulation of the BZ-Stadtsplit is higher primarily because almost 18,000 copies are included in "other sales", i.e. copies that are sold at a discount of more than 50 percent. The Bund circulation also contains such heavily discounted copies, but only 2,424, and in contrast to the BZ city split with a strong downward trend (minus 28 percent).
Other titles also have copies in the "other sales" category. In terms of proportion, they are usually around the same size as the Confederation. Other sales" refers to copies that are distributed to restaurants, schools and libraries and generate a relatively high reach due to multiple users. Certain trial subscriptions, target sales and promotional copies also fall into this category. At the Solothurner Tagblatt (ST), another BZ split, such copies account for 40 percent of circulation, as the ST - in order to establish itself in the Solothurn area - offers its subscriptions very cheaply in the first year. However, the fact that the BZ-Stadtsplit also distributes around a quarter of its paid circulation in this way has never been a topic of public discussion, unlike the ST, even though they have been included in the circulation certification since 2007 and even though the BZ-Stadtausgabe has by far the highest proportion of low-cost subscriptions and copies of all subscription newspapers in German-speaking Switzerland - in absolute and percentage terms.
In the discussion about the future of the Bund, however, this part of the paid circulation is now becoming more explosive, as the following question arises: Has Espace Media virtually distorted the situation of the Bund over the years through one-sided marketing in favor of BZ? There are some indications that the almost 18,000 copies are a marketing relic from the time when the Bund and BZ were not part of the same publishing house and were therefore still competitors. The only strange thing is that these marketing copies were retained from 2005 onwards, thus keeping the circulation of the BZ-Stadtsplit high artificially and at great expense, instead of allowing genuine journalistic competition between the Bund and BZ to take place in the city of Berne.
Uli Rubner knows the figures. "After all, circulation is one of the first things you look at when you take responsibility for a title," she says. However, the analysis of how the "other sales" of the BZ city split are made up in detail is still ongoing. Rubner is therefore reluctant to comment. Every publisher decides for itself how it wants to generate its reach; ultimately, every contact with the relevant target group counts for the advertising industry, she says. "In this respect, it is legitimate to open up certain alternative sales channels to generate reach in addition to the fully paid circulation." After all, the two newspapers BZ and Bund have managed to achieve a reach of over 60 percent in Bern. This puts Tamedia's Bernese titles in a top position in terms of penetration rate in their relevant area. And as the more broadly positioned title, the BZ is the locomotive in the Bernese combination, Rubner points out. From a business perspective, however, the question can be asked as to which and to what extent such activities make sense: "These are expensive measures, the subscription revenue is low, and what's more, retail sales and paid subscriptions are cannibalized," adds Rubner. "That's why we have to examine very carefully what should and shouldn't be continued."
Markus Knöpfli
Plausible thesis
Has Espace Media virtually distorted the situation of the Bund over the years through one-sided pro-BZ marketing? This question, together with a breakdown of the circulation figures for BZ and Bund, was also put to Roger Blum by Werbewoche. The Bernese media professor and member of the "Save the Bund" committee was cautious: "I don't have any data to verify your assumption," he writes. "But it is plausible." (mk)
