Free newspapers eat up subscriptions
In conflict and crisis zones, publishers invest heavily in their publications—but so far, nothing has provided a lasting solution to the decline in subscriptions.
In recent years, the Bernese daily newspaper Der Bund has suffered greatly: since 2004, when the Bernese model began, it has lost 18.2 percent of its subscriptions, and today it still has 48,406. In the meantime, however, the situation has calmed down somewhat: according to Wemf circulation figures for 2008, the decline in subscriptions compared to the previous year was only 1.6 percent. However, the calm is likely to be over soon, as can be concluded from various readers' letters. The announced change of concept - whatever the outcome - is not going down well with everyone.
> Overview of fully paid and discounted subscriptions (see notes in the corrigendum below)
The upcoming subscription renewal phase will therefore be decisive for the future fate of the Bund, which is mainly read in the city of Bern. If subscription cancellations increase again, a merger with the Berner Zeitung (BZ) is as good as certain, otherwise a cooperation with the Tages-Anzeiger is more likely.
Its sister title Berner Zeitung, on the other hand, is doing surprisingly well in terms of subscriptions, having gained 1,314 new subscribers (+1.2 percent) over the course of the year. The BZ primarily gained in Solothurn (585 subscriptions), Thun (534 subscriptions) and Emmental (211 subscriptions), while it also lost in the city of Berne (the various free newspapers send their regards). Nevertheless, the increase in subscriptions is a remarkable achievement, at least at first glance. However, if you take into account the considerable investments that the BZ is making in the Solothurner Tagblatt (ST) split (early delivery, free death notices, extremely generous trial subscriptions), it is questionable whether the increase in subscriptions is paying off - and how sustainable it is. In any case, the ST has seen better times: in 2005 it reported 4667 subscriptions, but then abruptly lost 1000 subscribers and is still 400 subscriptions below its previous peak.
It is unclear to what extent the competitor Solothurner Zeitung is feeling the effects of the BZ split, but the potential damage appears to be small. It is true that Solothurner Zeitung's subscriptions have also been falling continuously, by a full 13.2 percent since 2005. However, the biggest decline was recorded during the period in which the ST also lost 1,000 subscribers, a parallel development that was probably linked to the expansion of the free newspaper 20 Minuten.
Zurich region also loses subscribers
The situation is similar in the battleground region of Zurich, where the Tages-Anzeiger has launched four splits in order to better anchor itself in the region. However, the investment does not seem to have done the Tagi much good, as its subscriptions continued to fall in all regions - by 1.4 to 3 percent. However, the Zürcher Landzeitung fared no better, with the Zürcher Oberländer and Zürcher Unterländer losing even more at minus 4.2 and minus 5.3 percent respectively. The Zürichsee-Zeitung, which is less plagued by free newspapers, is more stable in terms of subscriptions (with the exception of the Sihltal/Thalwil edition, which is close to the city).
The situation also remained fairly stable in the Northwestern Switzerland region. Although a slight increase in subscriptions had been expected for the Basler Zeitung last spring, this was not confirmed by June. Nevertheless, BaZ is doing comparatively well with a decrease of 400 subscriptions or 0.5 percent. The competitor Basellandschaftliche Zeitung had also miscalculated: Due to the launch of Sonntag, they had hoped for at least a stabilization, but in fact the number of subscriptions fell by 340.
The situation with the Sunday titles is also interesting: NZZ am Sonntag, SonntagsZeitung and SonntagsBlick are still growing in terms of subscriptions, SoBli even by 3.7 percent, although only NZZaS is also growing in terms of total paid circulation, while SoBli and SoZ are experiencing declining circulation.
At Blick, the early delivery introduced in March has not yet been reflected in additional subscriptions. The number of subscriptions fell by a further 2.2 percent.
Markus Knöpfli
> Overview of fully paid and discounted subscriptions (see notes in the corrigendum below)
The upcoming subscription renewal phase will therefore be decisive for the future fate of the Bund, which is mainly read in the city of Bern. If subscription cancellations increase again, a merger with the Berner Zeitung (BZ) is as good as certain, otherwise a cooperation with the Tages-Anzeiger is more likely.
Its sister title Berner Zeitung, on the other hand, is doing surprisingly well in terms of subscriptions, having gained 1,314 new subscribers (+1.2 percent) over the course of the year. The BZ primarily gained in Solothurn (585 subscriptions), Thun (534 subscriptions) and Emmental (211 subscriptions), while it also lost in the city of Berne (the various free newspapers send their regards). Nevertheless, the increase in subscriptions is a remarkable achievement, at least at first glance. However, if you take into account the considerable investments that the BZ is making in the Solothurner Tagblatt (ST) split (early delivery, free death notices, extremely generous trial subscriptions), it is questionable whether the increase in subscriptions is paying off - and how sustainable it is. In any case, the ST has seen better times: in 2005 it reported 4667 subscriptions, but then abruptly lost 1000 subscribers and is still 400 subscriptions below its previous peak.
It is unclear to what extent the competitor Solothurner Zeitung is feeling the effects of the BZ split, but the potential damage appears to be small. It is true that Solothurner Zeitung's subscriptions have also been falling continuously, by a full 13.2 percent since 2005. However, the biggest decline was recorded during the period in which the ST also lost 1,000 subscribers, a parallel development that was probably linked to the expansion of the free newspaper 20 Minuten.
Zurich region also loses subscribers
The situation is similar in the battleground region of Zurich, where the Tages-Anzeiger has launched four splits in order to better anchor itself in the region. However, the investment does not seem to have done the Tagi much good, as its subscriptions continued to fall in all regions - by 1.4 to 3 percent. However, the Zürcher Landzeitung fared no better, with the Zürcher Oberländer and Zürcher Unterländer losing even more at minus 4.2 and minus 5.3 percent respectively. The Zürichsee-Zeitung, which is less plagued by free newspapers, is more stable in terms of subscriptions (with the exception of the Sihltal/Thalwil edition, which is close to the city).
The situation also remained fairly stable in the Northwestern Switzerland region. Although a slight increase in subscriptions had been expected for the Basler Zeitung last spring, this was not confirmed by June. Nevertheless, BaZ is doing comparatively well with a decrease of 400 subscriptions or 0.5 percent. The competitor Basellandschaftliche Zeitung had also miscalculated: Due to the launch of Sonntag, they had hoped for at least a stabilization, but in fact the number of subscriptions fell by 340.
The situation with the Sunday titles is also interesting: NZZ am Sonntag, SonntagsZeitung and SonntagsBlick are still growing in terms of subscriptions, SoBli even by 3.7 percent, although only NZZaS is also growing in terms of total paid circulation, while SoBli and SoZ are experiencing declining circulation.
At Blick, the early delivery introduced in March has not yet been reflected in additional subscriptions. The number of subscriptions fell by a further 2.2 percent.
Markus Knöpfli
CORRIGENDUM
Unfortunately, we made a mistake in the table. The Zofinger Tagblatt (ZT) is listed there with 12,702 subscriptions in 2008 and a decrease of 10.9 percent compared to the previous year. Both are incorrect. The fact that the ZT has been publishing the part of its circulation that extends into the canton of Lucerne as the split edition "Luzerner Nachrichten" (LN) since September 2007 and reporting it separately was not taken into account. The 1,310 LN subscriptions should therefore be correctly added to those of the ZT, resulting in a total of 14,012 ZT subscriptions. The year-on-year decline in subscriptions to the Zofinger Tagblatt is therefore only 1.7 percent. We apologize for the oversight.
