Attack on free news?
Major Swiss publishing houses are looking for a new, paid revenue stream. Is selling digitized newspapers through an online newsstand the future?
For the major publishing houses Tamedia, NZZ, Ringier and Edipresse, the digital paid newspaper is at least one approach to solving the declining sales figures in print. As the Beobachter writes on Wednesday, they are joining forces with the bookseller Orell Füssli and Swisscom to sell digitized newspapers and books via a new online kiosk. Readers will be able to purchase a discounted reading device on which they can download newspapers and books. The media companies thus appear to be deviating from the strategy of free news.
According to observers, the reader is not the well-known Kindle from Amazon, nor the announced iPad from Apple or a device from Sony. What is currently being tested is a reader that is hardly known in Europe and, like the Kindle, is only capable of black and white display. The device has to pass 150 test readers in spring. Depending on the results, the market launch is then planned for 2011. Publishers are bypassing middlemen with their own sales portal. Amazon and Apple, for example, charge 30 percent for sales via their platform.
However, this is not the end of free media offerings, according to Tamedia spokesperson Christop Zimmer. With the new offer, texts can be read in a way that is much closer to a printed newspaper in terms of quality and convenience. Tamedia is convinced that readers are willing to pay for this. However, this depends on whether all media companies pursue the same strategy, as Zurich media economist Patrick Rademacher explains according to Beobachter. In addition, it must be possible to use the reader for various purposes. Ideally, the device should also be able to be used to surf the net and write e-mails, and possibly also play music and films, so that enough readers are prepared to buy the device.
According to observers, the reader is not the well-known Kindle from Amazon, nor the announced iPad from Apple or a device from Sony. What is currently being tested is a reader that is hardly known in Europe and, like the Kindle, is only capable of black and white display. The device has to pass 150 test readers in spring. Depending on the results, the market launch is then planned for 2011. Publishers are bypassing middlemen with their own sales portal. Amazon and Apple, for example, charge 30 percent for sales via their platform.
However, this is not the end of free media offerings, according to Tamedia spokesperson Christop Zimmer. With the new offer, texts can be read in a way that is much closer to a printed newspaper in terms of quality and convenience. Tamedia is convinced that readers are willing to pay for this. However, this depends on whether all media companies pursue the same strategy, as Zurich media economist Patrick Rademacher explains according to Beobachter. In addition, it must be possible to use the reader for various purposes. Ideally, the device should also be able to be used to surf the net and write e-mails, and possibly also play music and films, so that enough readers are prepared to buy the device.
