Steady erosion of Swiss print media continues

Despite a steady fall in sales, Swiss media offer a huge range in the different language regions Keystone

Swiss media groups have seen a sizeable drop in the sales of printed newspapers and magazines over the past six months, according to the market research institute WEMF/REMP. 

The two most popular Swiss tabloids experienced a substantial drop in sales. The Le Matin newspaper in the French-speaking region has lost 21,000 readers since last October and now has a circulation of 275,000. In the German-speaking region, Blick lost 38,000 readers and now sells 617,000 every day. Most Sunday papers have also seen a downturn. 

This steady erosion of newspaper and magazine sales has been witnessed for several years and mostly affects wealthier nations, which have seen a big switch towards mobile and other online news sites. 

Worldwide, printed media is far from dead, however. According to the 2014 report of the World Association of Newspapers and News PublishersExternal link, 2.5 billion people – or 49% of the adult population – read printed newspapers in 2013.

Despite the drop in sales in richer western countries, they are increasing in other parts of the world. In Switzerland, newspaper sales may be falling but papers remain an important media. According to the World Bank, newspapers are read by 75.1% of Swiss in 2013. Elsewhere, only the Japanese have a higher readership (83.2%).