Nervousness on Sunday
WEMF circulation figures do not always meet the expectations of editors-in-chief and publishers. As a result, some rather far-fetched theories are put forward in an effort to present their own publications in a more positive light. This is particularly relevant in the highly competitive Sunday newspaper market. *Werbewoche* took a closer look at three such theories.
Two years ago, SonntagsBlick had 1.005 million readers, now it has 871,000. The decline in readership was particularly pronounced from fall 2007. In the articles on Mach Basic 2009-1, the commentators were therefore unanimous: the big loser in the Sunday market is the SoBli, which had to cede readers to the newcomer Sonntag.
However, Ringier launched an antithesis in a communiqué. According to this, SoBli is in a better position than it has been for a long time, with 1.045 million readers. The reason: for a year now, it has had its magazine, launched in May 2007, surveyed separately - and this reaches 500,000 people. According to Ringier, 174,000 of these people read the magazine exclusively, i.e. do not look at the SoBli title. Together with the SoBli readers, this results in 1.045 million readers without any overlap; with those in Ticino and French-speaking Switzerland, the figure is as high as 1.070 million. Thomas Passen, Head of the Blick Group, explained to Persoenlich.com that the separate type of survey is "sharper" because it measures national usage - i.e. SoBli (news and sport) on the one hand and the magazine on the other. He went on to explain to Werbewoche that the more recent SoBli figures are no longer comparable with those in the 2008-1 study and earlier because of the change. But how does he explain the sudden jump in reach back to the 2002 level (!), despite falling circulation? The new SoBli magazine is simply more popular than its predecessors and generates more readers within the family, for example. This is further boosted by early delivery. "And the Sunday market has also grown in general," adds Passen.
However, two things are perplexing: Wemf itself never limited the comparability of the SoBli ranges. On the contrary: it even explicitly points out the significant SoBli loss compared to 2008-1. It also contradicts Passen. "As part of the current Mach Basic, there is currently no offer to collect so-called 'federal reach' data," writes Viviane Zimmermann, Mach Basic project manager. From Wemf's point of view, the SoBli magazine is a so-called title supplement and is treated as a separate title in the survey. "Mach Basic is therefore unable to make any statements about how many people have only used a specific bundle of a title."
Conclusion: To speak of a federal usage study is imprecise, to say the least. In addition, anyone who suddenly has an existing supplement surveyed separately must expect cannibalization, especially with declining circulation. However, it is possible that the SoBli lost its (apparently) lost readers less to Sonntag than to its own magazine (which apparently benefits it again via the overall reach).
Sunday number salad on the Central Plateau
The MittellandZeitung (MZ) is also struggling with the Wemf figures. Sonntag editor-in-chief Patrik Müller was not happy that his paper reached 355,000 readers one year after its launch. In an interview in his own paper, he claimed that the Sonntag reach was actually higher. What's more: "Everything points to a measurement error, because many Sonntag readers refer to our newspaper as a 'Sonntagszeitung' in the Wemf survey," said Müller. Accordingly, the reach of Tamedia's SonntagsZeitung (SoZ) is "overstated". Patrik Müller cites two arguments for this: Firstly, he is repeatedly addressed as "Editor-in-Chief Sonntagszeitung" in letters from readers. Secondly, it seems contradictory to him that Tamedia's SoZ "should have gained readers in the Mittelland of all places, while it has lost readers slightly in the rest of Switzerland."
Müller receives support from an independent source. Indirectly. Publicist Ueli Custer mentions another possible confusion in the Media Trend Journal - one between Müller's Sonntag and the Catholic weekly Sonntag. He writes: "Incidentally, the new Sonntagsblatt (note: the MZ-Sonntag) also seems to be helping the Catholic magazine of the same name to soar, as this title, which has been stable for years, has suddenly made significant gains after hitting a low point a year ago."
What do we make of this? The fact is: In the eight economic regions (WG) in which the Sonntag newspaper is present, the SoZ has a positive readership balance of +23,000 people in total, whereas in the rest of Switzerland the balance is negative (-5,000 in total). The situation is similar for the Sonntag magazine (see table). However, NZZ am Sonntag also increased more significantly in the WGs with MZ-Sonntag than in the rest of Switzerland. This puts the confusion theories into perspective and allows the counter-thesis of SoZ publishing director Diego Quintarelli. He explains the strong growth in the Mittelland by the fact that the MZ partners "helped the name 'Sonntag' to achieve an above-average level of recognition" and supported the "curiosity effect". Another possible reason: the expansion of early Sunday delivery in the Mittelland also offered SoZ and NZZaS new marketing opportunities. Two years ago, SoZ and Solothurner Tagblatt launched a dumping combined subscription for CHF 100 in WG 32, which according to Quintarelli was "quite successful". But why couldn't the SonntagsBlick benefit? This question is superfluous, at least if Ringier's theory about gaining readers via the SoBli magazine proves to be correct.
Jump in reach for Sunday
The leap in reach of Sonntag magazine is still open. For Fabian Egger, Managing Director of the CAT Medien publishing house, this did not come as a surprise and was even "foreseeable" due to the development of subscriptions. Sonntag benefits from the fact "that topics such as morals and ethics are discussed more frequently, especially in times of crisis", says Egger. In addition, the Mittelland region belongs to a diocese headed by Kurt Koch, "a much-discussed bishop". "That's why we deliberately focused our advertising efforts on this region." Egger does not believe that the title has been confused: "The theory that the Sonntag magazine, which has been around for almost 90 years, has been mistaken for the newly launched Sonntag edition could just as easily be interpreted in the other direction," he says.
Wemf also shares this opinion. Viviane Zimmermann also points out that Wemf has built in several safeguards into the interviews to minimize the risk of confusion. For example, the titles are queried according to title groups, the order of the titles changes within the group and title additions are also used. For example, the magazine Sonntag is explicitly referred to as a magazine in the interview, and it also belongs to a different title group than the newspaper Sonntag.
Markus Knöpfli
Sunday reader gains and losses
However, Ringier launched an antithesis in a communiqué. According to this, SoBli is in a better position than it has been for a long time, with 1.045 million readers. The reason: for a year now, it has had its magazine, launched in May 2007, surveyed separately - and this reaches 500,000 people. According to Ringier, 174,000 of these people read the magazine exclusively, i.e. do not look at the SoBli title. Together with the SoBli readers, this results in 1.045 million readers without any overlap; with those in Ticino and French-speaking Switzerland, the figure is as high as 1.070 million. Thomas Passen, Head of the Blick Group, explained to Persoenlich.com that the separate type of survey is "sharper" because it measures national usage - i.e. SoBli (news and sport) on the one hand and the magazine on the other. He went on to explain to Werbewoche that the more recent SoBli figures are no longer comparable with those in the 2008-1 study and earlier because of the change. But how does he explain the sudden jump in reach back to the 2002 level (!), despite falling circulation? The new SoBli magazine is simply more popular than its predecessors and generates more readers within the family, for example. This is further boosted by early delivery. "And the Sunday market has also grown in general," adds Passen.
However, two things are perplexing: Wemf itself never limited the comparability of the SoBli ranges. On the contrary: it even explicitly points out the significant SoBli loss compared to 2008-1. It also contradicts Passen. "As part of the current Mach Basic, there is currently no offer to collect so-called 'federal reach' data," writes Viviane Zimmermann, Mach Basic project manager. From Wemf's point of view, the SoBli magazine is a so-called title supplement and is treated as a separate title in the survey. "Mach Basic is therefore unable to make any statements about how many people have only used a specific bundle of a title."
Conclusion: To speak of a federal usage study is imprecise, to say the least. In addition, anyone who suddenly has an existing supplement surveyed separately must expect cannibalization, especially with declining circulation. However, it is possible that the SoBli lost its (apparently) lost readers less to Sonntag than to its own magazine (which apparently benefits it again via the overall reach).
Sunday number salad on the Central Plateau
The MittellandZeitung (MZ) is also struggling with the Wemf figures. Sonntag editor-in-chief Patrik Müller was not happy that his paper reached 355,000 readers one year after its launch. In an interview in his own paper, he claimed that the Sonntag reach was actually higher. What's more: "Everything points to a measurement error, because many Sonntag readers refer to our newspaper as a 'Sonntagszeitung' in the Wemf survey," said Müller. Accordingly, the reach of Tamedia's SonntagsZeitung (SoZ) is "overstated". Patrik Müller cites two arguments for this: Firstly, he is repeatedly addressed as "Editor-in-Chief Sonntagszeitung" in letters from readers. Secondly, it seems contradictory to him that Tamedia's SoZ "should have gained readers in the Mittelland of all places, while it has lost readers slightly in the rest of Switzerland."
Müller receives support from an independent source. Indirectly. Publicist Ueli Custer mentions another possible confusion in the Media Trend Journal - one between Müller's Sonntag and the Catholic weekly Sonntag. He writes: "Incidentally, the new Sonntagsblatt (note: the MZ-Sonntag) also seems to be helping the Catholic magazine of the same name to soar, as this title, which has been stable for years, has suddenly made significant gains after hitting a low point a year ago."
What do we make of this? The fact is: In the eight economic regions (WG) in which the Sonntag newspaper is present, the SoZ has a positive readership balance of +23,000 people in total, whereas in the rest of Switzerland the balance is negative (-5,000 in total). The situation is similar for the Sonntag magazine (see table). However, NZZ am Sonntag also increased more significantly in the WGs with MZ-Sonntag than in the rest of Switzerland. This puts the confusion theories into perspective and allows the counter-thesis of SoZ publishing director Diego Quintarelli. He explains the strong growth in the Mittelland by the fact that the MZ partners "helped the name 'Sonntag' to achieve an above-average level of recognition" and supported the "curiosity effect". Another possible reason: the expansion of early Sunday delivery in the Mittelland also offered SoZ and NZZaS new marketing opportunities. Two years ago, SoZ and Solothurner Tagblatt launched a dumping combined subscription for CHF 100 in WG 32, which according to Quintarelli was "quite successful". But why couldn't the SonntagsBlick benefit? This question is superfluous, at least if Ringier's theory about gaining readers via the SoBli magazine proves to be correct.
Jump in reach for Sunday
The leap in reach of Sonntag magazine is still open. For Fabian Egger, Managing Director of the CAT Medien publishing house, this did not come as a surprise and was even "foreseeable" due to the development of subscriptions. Sonntag benefits from the fact "that topics such as morals and ethics are discussed more frequently, especially in times of crisis", says Egger. In addition, the Mittelland region belongs to a diocese headed by Kurt Koch, "a much-discussed bishop". "That's why we deliberately focused our advertising efforts on this region." Egger does not believe that the title has been confused: "The theory that the Sonntag magazine, which has been around for almost 90 years, has been mistaken for the newly launched Sonntag edition could just as easily be interpreted in the other direction," he says.
Wemf also shares this opinion. Viviane Zimmermann also points out that Wemf has built in several safeguards into the interviews to minimize the risk of confusion. For example, the titles are queried according to title groups, the order of the titles changes within the group and title additions are also used. For example, the magazine Sonntag is explicitly referred to as a magazine in the interview, and it also belongs to a different title group than the newspaper Sonntag.
Markus Knöpfli
Sunday reader gains and losses
