Reader numbers and advertising revenues behave differently
While press media advertising revenues have declined in recent months, the latest WEMF readership figures show a stable picture. The share of online users of print-based media brands also remained at the familiar level in the same period
The MACH Basic 2017-2 readership study and the Total Audience 2017-2 intermedia study were published on Tuesday.
Readership figures offer no rational explanation for the declining advertising revenues of the press media (source: Advertising Statistics Switzerland 2017). This is because the number of readers of newspapers and magazines remained stable at a high level across all title groups in the last twelve months. Around 93 percent of the Swiss population regularly reads a printed edition of a print-based media brand. This is a similar number to the previous year (source: MACH Basic 2016-2).
Relationship between print and online offerings is well coordinated
The proportion of online users of print-based media brands also remained stable over the same period. Across all media brands reported in Total Audience 2017-2, the ratio of print readers to online users has settled at two-thirds to one-third. Online access via desktop has declined slightly, while mobile usage is increasing. The migration from print to online usage within a media brand is no longer as rapid as in previous years, but is still discernible.
The Intermedia Study Total Audience 2017-2 was developed in cooperation between WEMF and NET-Metrix. It provides combined media brand reach of press titles and their web offerings.
The reach study MACH Basic provides the media and advertising market with official readership figures for around 300 Swiss and Liechtenstein newspapers, magazines and title combinations. Both studies are published semi-annually, in spring and fall.
