WORLD PRESS TRENDS - World Association of Newspapers

SWITZERLAND
Commentary – Schweizer Presse
Times remain hard for Swiss publishers; the recovery they hope
for has not yet arrived. Their situation has once again confirmed
that the media sector, which depends on advertising for three
quarters of its revenue, is acutely sensitive to economic
fluctuations. Nevertheless, we remain optimistic about the
future of the print media while the population continues to use
it so intensely.
Readers are seeking in-depth information and guidance rather
than titbits and news snippets, as a study from D & S called
Soziales Klima [Social Climate] 1997 – 2002 confirms.
Individuals are devoting roughly the same amount of time to
different media as in the previous two years, but their tendency
to switch rapidly from medium to medium is levelling off. The
total number of print titles (and broadcast channels, etc.)
regularly used by each individual is also stabilising.
Even under the generally unfavourable economic conditions,
newspaper publishers have continued to innovate, some making
changes to their printing processes, while others merge or
undergo other corporate restructuring. Despite the internet
euphoria of a couple of years ago, the printed press is certainly
not on its way out, but is at the centre of media activity. This
does not necessarily mean that all sectors of the press are
particularly profitable: free newspapers distributed to
commuters have yet to become big business, although they have
built up a large total readership. Their ability to reach young
people, who are less likely to read paid-for dailies than their
elders, means advertisers are beginning to take them seriously.
In mid-March 2002 the NZZ launched its Sunday edition, into a
field that was already marked out by two strong competitors.
The NZZ am Sonntag was free until the end of 2002, but this was
a short-term promotion; it will now have to establish its longterm
position in the Sunday newspaper market.
Jean Frey AG was sold at the beginning of 2003 and has now
become a new independent magazine publisher. Its title
Weltwoche was repositioned, and seems to have found itself a
new, loyal readership.
Advertising expenditure has fallen sharply since mid-2001; the
last time ad expenditure shrank so much was in the mid-70s
after the oil crisis. The total number advertising pages in all the
newspapers in Switzerland fell by 15.8% in 2002. Large dailies
suffered the most; some small local newspapers managed to
increased their advertising pages, while the weekly and
specialist press lost fewer pages than average. The number of
advertising pages in magazines shrank by 5.9%.
The loss of advertising is not just the result of the economic
downturn. Newspapers face strong competition from the
internet, particularly in job, property and vehicle classified
advertising, as well as from more established media.
Newspapers have been slowly losing share of the ad market
since the early 1990s, though with a 51.5% share in 2001 they
have a higher share than in most countries.
POPULATION
Population by age and sex
All individuals Male Female Households*
000 % 000 % 000 % 000
Children 1,325 18 682 19 643 17 2,890
16-24 773 11 393 11 380 10 *2002 estimate
25-34 1,013 14 500 14 513 14
35-44 1,217 17 613 17 604 16
45-54 1,013 14 509 14 504 13
55-64 843 12 417 12 426 11
65+ 1,138 16 467 13 671 18
Total 7,322 100 3,581 100 3,741 100
Source: Bundesamt für Statistik Bern, Sektion Bevölkerungsentwicklung 2002
Population by social class and sex
All adults* Male Female
000 % 000 % 000 %
A+B 344 8 283 13 61 3
C1 667 16 446 20 221 11
C2 1,254 30 659 30 595 30
D 767 18 399 18 368 19
E 1,170 28 442 20 728 37
Total 4,202 100 2,229 100 1,973 100
Source: Bundesamt für Statistik Bern, Sektion
Volkszählung 1990
* Adults defined as 18+
A= higher managerial, administrative, professional
B= intermediate managerial, administrative, professional
C1= independent/supervisory/clerical/junior managerial
C2= skilled manual workers
D= semi and unskilled manual workers
E= manual worker/unskilled worker/
subsistence/state pensioners or widows
Households
Households
Occupancy 000
1 person 920
2 people 900
3 people 424
4 people 413
5 or more people 184
without children 1,777
with children 1,065
with children aged 0-3 257
with children aged 4-9 333
with children aged 10-15 326
Total 2,842
Source: Bundesamt für Statistik Bern,
Volkszählung 1990
Housewives (co-habiting persons)
Housewives
000 %
under 25 21 3
25-34 173 27
35-44 170 27
45-54 148 23
55-64 120 19
Total 632 100
Source: Bundesamt für Statistik Bern,
Volkszählung 1990
WORLD ASSOCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS - WORLD PRESS TRENDS 2003 265