With small steps
IT Trade Media: More optimism than ever before in the industry. The past two years have been «a good time» for PCtipp in terms of subscription growth, single-issue sales, and advertising, says Gebhard Osterwalder, General Manager at IDG Switzerland.
IT trade media More optimism than ever in the industry. The last two years have been "a good time" for PCtipp in terms of subscription development, individual sales and advertising, says Gebhard Osterwalder, General Manager at IDG Switzerland.IT trade media More optimism than in the industry. The last two years have been "a good time" for PCtipp in terms of subscription development, individual sales and advertising, says Gebhard Osterwalder, General Manager at IDG Switzerland. At the same time, Computerworld from the same company has had "tough years".
The IT scene is similarly controversial in many places, so the two IDG titles are representative of the entire industry. In general, the economic outlook is seen as positive, but there are also differences here: people are either cautiously optimistic about the future or almost euphoric.
Relaunches and two new titlesHowever, several publishers expect further consolidation in this market. It may even have already begun in small steps. For example, the Compress Information Group ventured to launch an IT report last year, but discontinued it after three publications. The announced relaunch of Computerworld with its five specials on May 20 also points to a certain market shakeout: The newspaper will be reduced to tabloid size and the specials integrated. At the same time, the title is trying to bring developers and software architects on board. For this reason, a 16-page section for this target group will appear once a month in the magazine, which will continue to be published weekly.
InfoWeek is also undergoing some changes and will be published with a facelift on April 18. There are no plans to change the concept, but the previously text-heavy magazine will become "more reader-friendly and lively and the articles will tend to be shorter", says Editor-in-Chief Daniel Meierhans. InfoWeek will remain a professional magazine, but with a strong thematic focus on the management of larger IT systems.
At the same time, it is certain that at least two new titles will be launched on the market in 2005. It4kmu (see "Someone who wants to take advantage of the PR trend" on page 17) will be published in time for the iEX in May. SIR Medical, a line extension of Schweizerische Informatik-Revue (SIR) focusing on medical IT topics, is also planned for the fall. Interesting: SIR, SIR Medical and it4kmu work according to similar patterns: SIR Medical will fill its pages - like the parent title SIR - largely with paid content, it4kmu even exclusively. Apparently, other new IT launches currently have little chance.
Lifting for greater reader-friendliness: InfoWeek.
Markus Knöpfli
The IT scene is similarly controversial in many places, so the two IDG titles are representative of the entire industry. In general, the economic outlook is seen as positive, but there are also differences here: people are either cautiously optimistic about the future or almost euphoric.
Relaunches and two new titlesHowever, several publishers expect further consolidation in this market. It may even have already begun in small steps. For example, the Compress Information Group ventured to launch an IT report last year, but discontinued it after three publications. The announced relaunch of Computerworld with its five specials on May 20 also points to a certain market shakeout: The newspaper will be reduced to tabloid size and the specials integrated. At the same time, the title is trying to bring developers and software architects on board. For this reason, a 16-page section for this target group will appear once a month in the magazine, which will continue to be published weekly.
InfoWeek is also undergoing some changes and will be published with a facelift on April 18. There are no plans to change the concept, but the previously text-heavy magazine will become "more reader-friendly and lively and the articles will tend to be shorter", says Editor-in-Chief Daniel Meierhans. InfoWeek will remain a professional magazine, but with a strong thematic focus on the management of larger IT systems.
At the same time, it is certain that at least two new titles will be launched on the market in 2005. It4kmu (see "Someone who wants to take advantage of the PR trend" on page 17) will be published in time for the iEX in May. SIR Medical, a line extension of Schweizerische Informatik-Revue (SIR) focusing on medical IT topics, is also planned for the fall. Interesting: SIR, SIR Medical and it4kmu work according to similar patterns: SIR Medical will fill its pages - like the parent title SIR - largely with paid content, it4kmu even exclusively. Apparently, other new IT launches currently have little chance.
Lifting for greater reader-friendliness: InfoWeek.
Markus Knöpfli
