Birgit Konrad on the lack of freesheets in Germany

(19 June 2008)

The newspaper market in Germany is strictly controlled by strong regional/local and national players, who successfully prevented the market entrance of external (foreign) suppliers. Therefore all efforts to launch a free sheet in Germany failed. In 2000 Schibstedt launched 20 Minutes in Cologne and directly stirred up the hornet's nest of Dumont Schauberg as the regional ruler and Axel Springer as the national one. Both suppliers immediately launched their own free sheet against Schibstedt and blocked the advertising for the new title. Being tightly cross-linked to all relevant regional and local lobbies it was easy for them to do that. End of 2001 Schibstedt gave up and within 4 weeks the free sheets of Dumont Schauberg and Axel Springer disappeared as well. Another try was done with a title called Business News (published by GWP), which was distributed cost free to managers. But not being able to deliver proven circulation figures this title couldn't gain enough advertising to survive. The situation is not expected to change in near future, especially not from outside. And for the existing suppliers there is only one motivation to offer free sheets – and that is to save their main product in the shrinking newspaper market. As Axel Springer did it with Welt Kompakt, which is distributed cost-free in big cities. But the strategy is clear: this title can only be booked in combination with the national newspaper Die Welt and the circulation is also only shown for both titles together. Birgit Konrad, CEO of MEC Germany