Burden for the federal government
The Anzeiger Region Bern would actually be lucrative for the federal government if it weren't for the concession fee paid to the municipalities. But as it is, it is a burden. Meanwhile, the rival paper Berner Bär is taking off.
The Anzeiger Region Bern would actually be lucrative for the federal government if it weren't for the concession fee paid to the municipalities. But as it is, it is a burden. Meanwhile, the rival paper Berner Bär is taking off.There was a boom when the Bund Verlag and Espace Media (then Berner Tagblatt Medien) bid for the five-year concession for the new Anzeiger Region Bern (ARB) put out to tender by the city of Bern and 14 surrounding municipalities. In mid-2000, the Confederation was awarded the contract - it had offered a minimum annual concession fee of 3.7 million francs, while the competition had offered 3.5 million francs.The triumph over the competition soon turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory for the Confederation, which belongs to the NZZ Group. For despite low editorial costs (Bernese Anzeiger are published - apart from official notices - without editorial content) and gross distribution to all households, the ARB has been a loss-making business for the Bund since its launch in January 2001. The main reason is the decline in advertising.
Calculated without slackness
In 2002, ARB's four-times-weekly city edition (80464 copies) lost 20 percent of its volume compared with the previous year, while the twice-weekly regional edition (58665 copies) generated only 12.9 percent fewer pages. The result was a 19 percent drop in sales. "When we submitted our bid in 1999, we never expected this drop in advertising," says Raoul Wanger, ARB publishing director and member of the Bund Verlag management board. Even in 2001, he says, revenues were not enough to cover the concession fee as well. "We've always had to add to it," says Wanger. And he adds, "The ARB is currently a pretty big ball and chain for us."
Last year, the wheel was turned around: With the blessing of the Bern City Council, the ARB city edition has been published three times since the beginning of 2003 - which, according to Wanger, saves 600,000 Swiss francs annually. In addition, the "Anzeiger Region Bern plus" combination consisting of eight official advertisers, for which the ARB contributes a good half of the circulation, has reduced its color surcharge by 44 percent. A full-page four-color ad now costs 23438 Swiss francs for ARB plus, compared to 27900 Swiss francs last year. The color surcharge was "not in line with the market," admits Walter Althaus, Director of Publicitas Bern. That's why the combination, which last year brought 50 ad pages (+20%), fetched practically no color ads.
Despite these measures, Wanger expects ARB's accounts to be in the red again this year. "The reduction accommodates us, but it doesn't solve our problem," he says. He is not considering another round of spending cuts. "That would hurt the product," he says. The primary reason for the reduction to three issues was to protect ARB's image because of the poorly booked Thursday edition.
Only one fifth of the volume
While the ARB is worried, the rival paper Berner Bär (BB, 141579 copies) from Espace Media is apparently in good health. Although the free paper does not reach households with stop stickers, it makes up for this shortcoming with boxes. Because the BB is only published twice a week, it has lower print expenditures. On the other hand, it offers editorial content, which is why it incurs corresponding costs - but no concession fees in the millions. Although the BB's advertising volume is only about one fifth of that of the ARB, the BB was able to maintain this volume last year (- 0.7%). In addition, it repeatedly comes up trumps with full-page color ads. In terms of gross sales, the BB therefore increased by 6.5 percent, says Paul Galli, member of the Espace Media management board and responsible for the local papers.
Galli does not accept the accusation that BB is engaging in price dumping. His paper can't afford to do that because it's not cross-subsidized. And he doesn't believe that the ARB plus combination with the lower color surcharge could take ads away from the BB: "The ARB plus hasn't been relevant on the market so far. For a long time, people didn't notice that the ARB plus was too expensive."
The Berner Bär has what the Berner Anzeigerkombi does not have: Color ads. They give it wings and let money flutter into the till.
Markus Knöpfli
Calculated without slackness
In 2002, ARB's four-times-weekly city edition (80464 copies) lost 20 percent of its volume compared with the previous year, while the twice-weekly regional edition (58665 copies) generated only 12.9 percent fewer pages. The result was a 19 percent drop in sales. "When we submitted our bid in 1999, we never expected this drop in advertising," says Raoul Wanger, ARB publishing director and member of the Bund Verlag management board. Even in 2001, he says, revenues were not enough to cover the concession fee as well. "We've always had to add to it," says Wanger. And he adds, "The ARB is currently a pretty big ball and chain for us."
Last year, the wheel was turned around: With the blessing of the Bern City Council, the ARB city edition has been published three times since the beginning of 2003 - which, according to Wanger, saves 600,000 Swiss francs annually. In addition, the "Anzeiger Region Bern plus" combination consisting of eight official advertisers, for which the ARB contributes a good half of the circulation, has reduced its color surcharge by 44 percent. A full-page four-color ad now costs 23438 Swiss francs for ARB plus, compared to 27900 Swiss francs last year. The color surcharge was "not in line with the market," admits Walter Althaus, Director of Publicitas Bern. That's why the combination, which last year brought 50 ad pages (+20%), fetched practically no color ads.
Despite these measures, Wanger expects ARB's accounts to be in the red again this year. "The reduction accommodates us, but it doesn't solve our problem," he says. He is not considering another round of spending cuts. "That would hurt the product," he says. The primary reason for the reduction to three issues was to protect ARB's image because of the poorly booked Thursday edition.
Only one fifth of the volume
While the ARB is worried, the rival paper Berner Bär (BB, 141579 copies) from Espace Media is apparently in good health. Although the free paper does not reach households with stop stickers, it makes up for this shortcoming with boxes. Because the BB is only published twice a week, it has lower print expenditures. On the other hand, it offers editorial content, which is why it incurs corresponding costs - but no concession fees in the millions. Although the BB's advertising volume is only about one fifth of that of the ARB, the BB was able to maintain this volume last year (- 0.7%). In addition, it repeatedly comes up trumps with full-page color ads. In terms of gross sales, the BB therefore increased by 6.5 percent, says Paul Galli, member of the Espace Media management board and responsible for the local papers.
Galli does not accept the accusation that BB is engaging in price dumping. His paper can't afford to do that because it's not cross-subsidized. And he doesn't believe that the ARB plus combination with the lower color surcharge could take ads away from the BB: "The ARB plus hasn't been relevant on the market so far. For a long time, people didn't notice that the ARB plus was too expensive."
The Berner Bär has what the Berner Anzeigerkombi does not have: Color ads. They give it wings and let money flutter into the till.
Markus Knöpfli
