Newsweek sales exceed estimates

Sales of the first six issues of Newsweek Polska have outstripped expectations, according to estimates released last week by Axel Springer (AS Polska), the weekly's publisher in Poland.

Before Newsweek's September launch, AS Polska had been counting on initial turnover of 100,000 copies, but sales have risen steadily. The worst-selling issue reached 320,000 copies, while the best - 408,000 following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Rivals Wprost and Polityka each sell more than 250,000 copies a week, although they have yet to release third-quarter sales figures. Last week Newsweek's circulation was boosted to 479,000, up from 350,000 copies planned originally. Florian Fels, managing director of AS Polska, said that for the next issue the print run would be increased to 500,000.

"Surprised by success? By circulation, yes, we were surprised," Fels said. "It's cynical and tragic but the war and the events in the U.S. helped us." Fels said sales of Newsweek's seventh and eighth issues stabilized at 340,000-360,000 copies. "I'm very optimistic about next year," he said. "The number of ad pages we run is also more than we expected. We decided on 15 ad pages on average, thinking it should be achievable this year, and the first issue was 16. "

On hearing that Polityka had more than 20 pages of ads in its most recent issue, Fels said Newsweek would catch up to its rivals next year. "Next year we will be closer (to our competitors) because we have to convince media houses to change media plans," he said.

Anna Kocinska