Springer plans cheap Sunday compact
Publisher Axel Springer, owner of Europe’s best selling newspaper Bild Zeitung, is thinking of launching a cheap compact Sunday newspaper. The model of broadsheet Die Welt and cheap tabloid Welt Kompakt (also by Springer) will be used for Bild am Sonntag and BamS Kompakt as well. (Persoenlich)
Springer is probably the most outspoken adversary of free newspapers in Germany. In 1999-2001 the publisher countered the free 20 Minuten project by Schibsted in Cologne while it has plans ready (Gratissimo) to counter any entrepreneur that wants to launch a free daily in Germany.
Instead of free, German publishers went for the ‘cheap’ model instead, so far without too much success. Direkt in Cologne by local publisher DuMont Schauberg was closed down, 20 Cents by Holtzbrinck is not attrackting much advertising while News by the same publisher converted to the free Business News and closed within a year.
Only Welt Kompakt seems to have some success although the publisher does not break out separate data for the circulation of Welt and Welt Kompakt. Joined circulation has increased from 250,000 in 2005 to 275,000 now – the increase can probably be attributed for an important part to Welt Kompakt.
Bild Zeitung as well as Bild am Sonntag are losing heavily. Bild went down from 3.7 million in 2005 to 3.3 million in 2007 – in 1995 it sold 4.5 million copies; in 2000 4.4 million. Bild am Sonntag had a circulation of 2.1 million in 2003 and was down to 1.8 million in 2006 – no data were submitted for 2007 yet.