Newspapers & Magazines

The Outlook for Traditional Print Media

in North America & Europe
December 2014

Sponsored by:

CONTENTS

Introduction

Newspapers 4
Magazines 8
Forecasts 12

Newspapers & Magazines: The Outlook in North America & Europe

INTRODUCTION

Magazines and newspapers are well-established and widely read the world over, but
like other print media, face serious challenges from online and mobile media. Digital
printing has thus far played a marginal role in production, but this is beginning to
change as publishers explore new ways to inject life into their printed products.
agazines and newspapers derive revenue from
paid subscriptions as well as from advertising
revenue; they have suffered downturns in
both instances. Magazines have faced multiple headwinds in recent years, beginning with unprecedented
postage increases, and follwed by the recent economic
downturn. As a result periodical volume has declined,
and ad page revenue has suffered.

Unlike magazines, newspapers faced serious challenges

from online competition for lucrative classified
advertising well before the recession, and both
subscription and advertising revenue has spiraled
downward in most developed countries.

Publishers are beginning to explore new models for

traditonal print media in a multichannel world. The
advent of high-speed inkjet printing, in particular, has
opened new doors to a higher degree of participation
for digital printing.
The purpose of this whitepaper is to examine the current
and future state of magazine and newspapers in North
America and Western Europe, and the use of digital
printing for the production or enhancement of these
products.

Still Trusted . . .

Despite these challenges magazines and newspapers are

immensely important media for brand building and
news dissemination; magazine circulation has stabilised
in recent years, and newspaper circulation continues to
grow in developing countries.

Consumer trust in magazines, newspapers,

& other media among U.S. respondents
(Source: Association of Magazine Media, Nielsen)

Newspapers & Magazines: The Outlook in North America and Europe 3

NEWSPAPERS

lthough media coverage of the newspaper

market in recent years has been pessimistic, a
growing market in developing countries is
mitigating declines in North America and Western
Europe. The World Association of Newspapers and
News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) estimates that global newspaper circulation increased by 2% in 2013; worldwide
newspaper advertising revenues dropped by 6%.

Newspaper readership has declined in recent years in

developed countries in the face of increasing competition from computers, tablets, and smart phones as
sources of news and entertainment. In the U.S. readership has declined regularly across all age categories, with
the greatest loss among younger adults.
Digital media has also been largely responsible for
declines in newspaper ad revenues. According to the
Newspaper Association of America, from 2007 to 2012,
total newspaper advertising revenue in the U.S. declined
by 13.2% annually. Print ad revenue declined 14.8% per
year while digital ad revenue grew 1.2% per year.

The story is quite different in the U.S. and Western

Europe, where circulation and advertising revenue have
been in decline for a number of years. Newspaper
circulation declined by 5.3% in North America in 2013
compared to the year
prior, and by 5.2% in
Newspaper Circulation
Western Europe.
Circulation was down
by 10.3% in North
America from 2008 to
2013, and by 23.0% in
Western Europe.
Newspaper advertising
worldwide has
dropped 13% since
2008, with North
America accounting
for nearly threequarters of the decline.
In 2013 North
American advertising
revenues were down
by 8.7%, while
Western Europe
experienced a 8.2%
decline.

North America

& Advertising

Western Europe

Source: World Press Trends, 2013

Average daily newspaper circulation

worldwide was 522 million copies
in 2012

Newspapers & Magazines: The Outlook in North America & Europe

The 2013 World Press

Trends survey
commissioned by
WAN-IFRA finds
increasing audience
engagement on
digital platforms as
the biggest challenge
faced by newspaper
publishers. Although
a majority of the
digital population
visits newspaper
websites, newspapers
represent a small
portion of total
internet consumption:
7% of visits, 1.3% of
total time spent, and
0.9% of page visits.

NEWSPAPERS

THE STAYING POWER OF PRINT

DIGITAL PRINTING

Although newspaper publishers have seen key sources

of revenue such as classified advertising flee to online
media, printed newspapers still remain a valued media. A
study conducted by the Newspaper Association of
America in 2012 found that consumers believe print is
more satisfactory for advertising content than digital
platforms.

Digital printing has been used for over a decade for

newspaper production but is still in an emerging stage of
adoption. Early efforts used digital printing to produce
newpapers on demand near end-consumer locations
such as airports, resorts, and hotels.

Compared to computers, smart phones, and tablets,

consumers find print a more relaxing way to read
newspapers; 44% of consumers say printed newspapers
have useful advertising, compared to computer (20%),
smart phone (17%), and tablet (27%) editions.

North America lags behind the rest of the world

in using digital printing in newspaper production. Elsewhere, printers and distributors in
Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia
are producing international and local newspapers on demand in a distributed manner on
inkjet presses.

Newspaper Association of America, 2012

According to a recent survey conducted among
newspaper publishers by News & Tech, the vast majority
(94%) of the respondents view print as the core of their
newspaper brand. Nearly two-thirds (65%) indicate that
print accounts for more than 70% of their newspaper
business, and 27% say it accounts for more that 85%.
More than half (56%) of the survey respondents indicate
that promotion of print through in-house and other ad
campaigns is one of the top tactics for keeping their
brand strong.
Publishers have adjusted their printing strategies in a
number of ways in response to declining circulation and
revenue.
Many newspapers now either outsource the
production of their newspapers, consolidate the
production to one location, or move production to
centralized hubs based on geography
Publishers have reduced investments in offset presses
and have instead focused on retrofits and upgrades
to existing production lines
In recent years many high-profile publishers have
reduced the format size of their newspapers in order
to reduce cost

In addition, large European and Asian

newspapers have installed hybrid solutions which
combine offset presses and inkjet print modules to
produce customised and personalised newspapers, and
to link printed editions to online web sites.
Improvements in digital production equipment have
been key to opening the door to short-run, distributed,
and personalised newspaper production. Vendors of
toner-based digital equipment have introduced
enhancements in the areas of speed and throughput,
TCO, print quality, colour management, paper handling,
and format sizes to their full-colour digital presses.
The most important developments for the use of digital
printing in the newspaper market have been with inkjet
systems, which are faster and feature higher capacity,
larger format, better quality, and lower TCO. These
developments have been accompanied by the introduction of very high-speed and high-quality inkjet
modules which can be mounted on offset presses and
finishing equipment.

Newspapers & Magazines: The Outlook in North America and Europe 5

NEWSPAPERS

Distributed Newspaper Printing

Numerous companies around the world are printing newspapers closer to
the final point of destination using inkjet presses. RotoCean, located on the
French island of La Reunion east of Africa, produces short runs of national
and international newspapers locally using a high-speed inkjet press with inline finishing. In England Stroma produces international titles. Atlas Printing
Press (pictured below) in Dubai prints international daily newspapers on a
Screen Truepress Jet520 inkjet press for readers in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) and travellers flying out of the city.

Source: Dainippon Screen

Newspapers & Magazines: The Outlook in North America & Europe

NEWSPAPERS

Personalised Newspapers
Symeta, the in-house in-plant printing operation of Colruyt Group, a large
grocery retailer in Belgium, has produced highly personalised full-colour
holiday newspapers for Kazou, the youth department of the health
insurance organization CM. In 2013 Kazou and Symeta presented all the
youth camps and destinations in a holiday newspaper with customized
content. Youth who went on tour with Kazou the previous year were
presented pictures of that holiday on the cover of the paper. The papers
featured a highly personalised front page printed on an inkjet press and three
segmented offset-printed sections..

Source: Symeta and CM

Newspapers & Magazines: The Outlook in North America and Europe 7

MAGAZINES

rinted magazines are widely read. According to

the Association of Magazine Media (MPA), 96% of
adults under the age of 25 read magazines. MPA
estimates that the top 25 magazines reach more adults
and teens than the top 25 regularly scheduled primetime television shows

Magazines appeal to a wide spectrum of age groups,

with magazine readers generally reflecting the median
age of the population. Readers spend an average of 41
minutes per issue, and tend to
trust advertisements in magazines. These characteristics are
appealing to marketers since
magazines deliver strong
ad recall.
Despite their resilience, printed
magazines have been challenged
by competition from electronic
media for consumer attention and
ad dollars. Some categories of
magazines such as mass market
news magazines have been
impacted dramatically.

LEADING TRENDS
Titles Up, Circulation DownIn developing countries
overall magazine circulation has declined. In 2012 total
U.S. circulation of 311.7 million magazines was flat, but
since 2003 circulation has dropped by about 12%.
Although circulation is flat or slightly declining, the
number of individual magazine titles has grown.
Newsstand Sales SufferMagazines are circulated at
retail outlets and by subscription. Publishers typically
offer deep discounts for subscriptions since retail distribution
is inefficient and costly. Even so,
single-issue sales can account for
as much as one-quarter of
circulation revenue. Single-issue
sales are declining, however;
2012 marked five straight years
of decline for single-copy
magazine sales in the U.S.
Ad Pages Contractdeclines in
circulation and competition from
digital advertising have led to a
decrease in advertising revenue
for magazine publishers. Since
2007 total ad pages in the U.S.
have dropped by 8.2%.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
estimates that global consumer
magazine revenue declined by
nearly 3% annually from 2008 to
2012. It expects modest growth of
less than 1% from 2012 to 2017.
The top ten global markets in
2012 accounted for more than
three-quarters (77%) of consumer
magazine revenues, but only
three markets among the ten
were growing (China, Brazil, and
Canada).

Cross-MediaAccording to The
Association of Magazine Media,
a high percentage of magazine
readers are also internet users
and have made purchases
online; in addition magazine
advertising triggers the highest
percentage of online searches
among all media, so cross-media
opportunities abound.
Source: The Economist

Newspapers & Magazines: The Outlook in North America & Europe

MAGAZINES

Newsstand Circulation

Source: Alliance for Audited Media

Magazine Ad Pages

Source: Publishers Information Bureau, Association of Magazine Media

Newspapers & Magazines: The Outlook in North America and Europe 9

MAGAZINES

DIGITAL PRINTING OPPORTUNITIES

Magazines are increasingly read across multiple formats,
including online, tablets, and smartphones, but printing
remains the most common delivery vehicle. According to
MPA, over 90% of consumers read magazines in print.

digitally printed signatures containing unique

demographic and personalised data which are bound
into magazines which are otherwise produced by
conventional means.

Onserts and inserts produced with digital inkjet presses

have been used by publications such as Harpers Bazaar,
While print remains the dominant format, run lengths
Cosmopolitan, Esquire,
are decreasing.
Good Housekeeping,
Although the number of
In
2012
digital
editions
of
magazines
in
the
U.S.
Popular Mechanics,
consumer magazine
Redbook, and
accounted for only about 2% of sales.
titles held steady
Womans Day.
between 2008 and
2012, circulation has
been flat or declining in developed countries. More than
Digital printing has also created magazine opportunites
80% of U.S. magazines have circulations of less than one
for self-publishing and corporate branding. In
million, and they account for about 31% of total
November 2012 Blurb, which provides a service for
circulation.
creating, printing, and independently publishing books,
Despite declining print runs, most magazines still fall
outside the cost, quality, and/or throughput parameters
of digital presses. Even so, opportunites are available for
toner and inkjet printing systems in areas such as
distributed print, personalisation and customisation,
wraps and inserts, self-publishing, and branded editions.
In 2011 issues of Wired UK with personalised covers
were sent to a select few readers to highlight privacy
concerns. In personalising the covers Wired used information from a variety of sources including social
networks; information included what readers were
buying and selling on eBay, videos posted online by
their children, and property profits. The covers were
personalised using toner-based digital presses.
Onserts are personalised and customised digitally
printed advertisements and messages appearing on
mass produced magazine covers and pages. Inserts are

10

announced it would also support magazine publishing.

Blurbs offering initially targets businesses, creative
professionals, and photographers. The digitally printed
magazines are offered in 8.5 x 11 format with perfect
binding and three different types of covers.
Ethias is a large Belgian insurance company with more
than one million clients and an 8.4% share of the market;
each month Ethias signs on 2,000 new clients. In order
to solidify the consumers choice of Ethias, introduce
new clients to local offices, and up-sell products, Ethias
sends each new client a personalised welcome
magazine. The cover features the clients first name, and
no fewer than eleven different full-colour variations.
Ethias also varies the internal content of the magazine,
providing advertorials tailored to the client and
personalised photos of local offices and employees that
will be available to speak to the client.

Newspapers & Magazines: The Outlook in North America & Europe

MAGAZINES

According to Ethias, 54% of clients receiving its

personalised welcome magazine indicated they
will contact a sales office, new customers
requesting additional quotes increased from
8.6% to 20%, and additional policy sales
increased from 1.4% to 4.7% of new clients.

Source: Symeta & Ethias

Distributed Magazine Printing

The Meganews kioskan unmanned magazine and newspaper vending machine with
internet access that prints periodicals on demandwas launched in Stockholm in 2013.
It uses a 75-ppm Ricoh C751 colour print engine to produce a magazine in about two
minutes after a title has been selected. When it was launched in June 2013 following six
months of testing at hotels, supermarkets, and airports, the kiosk offered about 200
magazines and newspapers through Meganews partnerships with leading Swedish
publishers. According to Meganews, the kiosk reduces publishers costs for distribution
and logistics and is environmentally friendly.

Newspapers & Magazines: The Outlook in North America and Europe 11

NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINES

Worldwide Digitally Printed Newspaper Pages

Source: INTERQUEST

Magazine Production by Region, 2013

Source: INTERQUEST

12

Newspapers & Magazines: The Outlook in North America & Europe

Cover art: 2009 newsstand from Frankfurt am Main Germany, Wikimedia Commons
2014 INTERQUEST, Ltd.
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