That is why newspapers in southern European countries are hardest hit by revenue lost from classifieds and advertising. A decade ago, newspaper sales accounted for perhaps only one-third of revenue, while the rest came from ads and classifieds. Now, it is a 50-50 mix. Ten years ago, carmaker BMW regularly ran two-page ads in most newspapers in Germany. Now, the Bavarian company advertises in fewer papers and less often.
More significant for many papers in the last few years is the collapse in sales to classified ads as people switch to online portals to sell their cars, find apartments, and search for jobs. Those big, fat sections in weekend papers are still common in Europe, but not likely for long.
While searcing on the Web for an apartment has been the norm for years, it is new for jobs. For decades, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung’s want ads section has been the go-to place for job seekers. This year, the Frankfurt paper is faced with a deficit of around 15 million euros because of declining ads in its popular section, according to the Hamburger Abendblatt. FAZ officials confirmed that they were facing a loss this year but would not confirm a figure.
Perhaps the biggest difference between the two continents is reader loyalty. When they go online, readers throughout Europe head to the digital version of their trusted newspaper, ENPA’s Cunningham said. Still, until their owners figure out how to make a profit from those mobile apps, each paper that folds means one less outlet that is hiring, according to Martin Hock, a financial journalist for the FAZ.
“Right now,” he said, “you have a huge numbers of highly skilled, highly qualified, well-educated people searching for jobs that aren’t going to appear any time soon.”
To be honest, the European newspapers have made a series of shockingly poor decisions. Or, more to the point, they have refused to make decisions. They have, almost to a news outlet, shut their eyes and hoped the internet would go away.
They all had an advantage that the English speaking papers didn't have - a captive audience, because of the language barrier. The Europeans have also been much later adopters of digital than in other countries, and a significant portion of the German population is still not particularly engaged with it. The Europeans, and the Germans in particular, could have seen what was happening in the English sphere and taken the necessary action - a simple solution would have been to stop classifieds bleeding by creating their own online classified sites. They've had years to do this.
I work in the media in Germany and it is five to ten years behind its counterparts in the UK. Digital knowledge is woeful and management is dealing with the threat by sticking their fingers in their ears and going 'la la la'. Look at top newspaper websites - they haven't been upgraded since they were built. Even Der Spiegel, Germany's flagship publication, has an old fashioned, cheaply built site that hasn't evolved since I first looked at it in 2003.
They are very much victims of their own complacency, as much as of reader migration to digital.
#1 Posted by Alexie, CJR on Thu 13 Dec 2012 at 08:48 AM