Some 4.5 million are unemployed in Germany, which has been dogged by recession for the past three years. It is hoped recovery is imminent, although it will be far from straightforward. The German government, led by the chancellor, Gerhard Schroder, has courted controversy by introducing mean-tested unemployment benefit as part of a wider package of social reforms. Job cuts have become a way of life, particularly in publishing, where giants such as Axel Springer and the Bertelsmann-owned Gruner & Jahr have culled up to 15 per cent of their workforces.
Restructuring businesses to maximise new revenue streams has been a popular move and German companies such as DaimlerChysler have blazed the trail for outsourcing. Meanwhile, publishers expanded their businesses abroad, particularly into Eastern Europe. Burda, for instance, has had success there with women's magazines.
Burda bucks the trend domestically, too. Hubert Burda bought MichstraBe, incorporating titles such as Fit for Fun and Tomorrow into Burda Verlag.
Worth around 850 million euros, Burda is keen to close the gap on Gruner & Jahr, Germany's biggest publisher.
Germany has the largest magazine market in Europe and it claims about 23.9 per cent of all adspend, but newspapers still dominate, with 40.7 per cent. With the exception of the tabloid paper Bild, most of the highest-circulating newspapers are regional titles.
Germany is unlike many of its European neighbours in that no one city serves as a media hub: media folk pinball between Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and, increasingly, Berlin.
Germany has 16 regions in total and each one operates and regulates its own TV and radio broadcasts. Analogue is poised for switch-off in 2010 and a swathe of digital channels are growing in popularity. Germans are watching more TV because of wider programme choice and because they can now receive TV broadcasts via computers and mobile phones. Local versions of shows such as Pop Idol and Wife Swap are popular.
Meanwhile, the Bertelsmann-owned RTL is a key commercial player on the German TV scene and further afield. It owns a stake in five and is rumoured to be eyeing up BBC Worldwide's assets. Financial Times Deutschland also reported Germany's biggest TV company, ProSiebenSat1, wants to buy Euvia Media, which owns the TV channel NeunLive.
ADVERTISING EXPENDITURE
USdollars million at current prices. All years based on US$1=
euro 0.89 *Estimated
News- Mag-
Total papers azines TV Radio Cinema Outdoor Internet
1992 15,664 7,597 4,378 2,498 566 139 486 0
1993 15,907 7,669 4,239 2,786 580 151 482 0
1994 16,971 7,997 4,359 3,249 655 160 552 0
1995 17,940 8,275 4,605 3,660 651 171 578 0
1996 18,218 8,284 4,516 3,980 665 173 599 0
1997 18,885 8,559 4,601 4,292 679 176 578 0
1998 19,814 8,998 4,734 4,562 683 187 635 16
1999 20,887 9,191 4,992 4,873 780 194 769 87
2000 22,565 9,812 5,398 5,315 827 198 842 173
2001 20,843 8,769 5,007 5,044 765 192 857 209
2002 18,969 7,904 4,685 4,465 672 181 805 256
2003 18,036 7,349 4,471 4,302 654 181 801 278
2004 18,309 7,429 4,549 4,376 664 184 815 293
2005* 18,646 7,552 4,617 4,465 674 187 825 325
2006* 19,298 7,738 4,777 4,687 688 192 849 367
2007* 19,876 7,963 4,883 4,854 709 196 865 406
ADSPEND NOTES
1) Excludes agency commission of 15%
2) Excludes production costs
3) Includes classified advertising
4) After discounts
5) Magazines include directories and trade titles
6) East Germany included from 1991
7) Newspapers includes dailies, weeklies, Sundays, supplements
FACTFILE
HIGHEST CIRCULATING
Newspaper: Bild (3,989,000)
Business magazine: Guter Rat (monthly, 264,000)
Consumer magazine: ADAC Motorwelt (monthly, 13,616,000)
Most-watched TV programme (2003): Euro 2004 qualifier, Germany vs
Scotland
Best new TV format: Idols
MAJOR LOCAL MEASUREMENT TOOLS
Circulation: IVW
Readership: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Media-Analyse (AG.MA),
Media-Micro-Census
TV viewing: GfK
TOP MEDIA OWNERS
Newspapers: Axel Springer
Magazines: Gruner & Jahr
TV: ARD, ZDF (both public), RTL, ProSiebenSat1
LOWDOWN
Media topic du jour - Luxury versus low-price products.
Reigning media guru and why - Harald Schmidt, Germany's most famous late-night TV talkshow host, who has just taken a very highly paid job at ARD.
Media mogul to be seen with - Christiane zu Salm, the chief executive of the TV channel NeunLive, because she is always so open to new ideas.
Car to drive - Mercedes Benz CLS.
Top-selling beer brand - Heineken.
Phone to carry - BlackBerry.
Whatever you do, don't say ... "Cool" (when you are over 30).
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