Springing into action

By Aleksander Nowacki

German publisher Axel Springer's plans to launch a new daily here intrigued market watchers as to the potential success of the publication, which will likely challenge the tabloid Super Express and possibly Gazeta Wyborcza.

The company's announcement last week confirmed speculation that had been circulating for the past year. Axel Springer Polska declined further comment about the publication, while Silvie Rundel, a public relations specialist at the company's headquarters in Hamburg, confirmed the news but added that the publication's launch date was not yet available.

Axel Springer plans to model the new paper on Germany's Bild, Europe's largest tabloid. That would place the new entrant in direct competition with Super Express, the only tabloid on the Polish market at the moment. Experts have previously said that there is still room here for a quality paper, particularly in light of the recent bankruptcies of the dailies Życie and Prawo i Gospodarka.

Axel Springer's new daily may make a dent in the market as a niche publication that spans the gap between Gazeta Wyborcza, the country's top-selling daily, and Super Express, according to some market watchers.

"It is a good model they are planning to adopt," said Radosław Solan, a media analyst at PKO BP brokerage. "If you look at Bild, it combines a sensation-chasing profile with reliable information."

"The shrinking advertising market may be less of a problem for a tabloid than a quality newspaper," said Tomasz Bardziłowski, an analyst at BZ WBK brokerage. "Gazeta Wyborcza and its current problems are an argument in favor of a tabloid format."

Andrzej Szymański of Millennium Bank brokerage, however, was skeptical.

"With intensive marketing and a low price, necessary at the beginning, it is impossible to rely on sales revenue alone," he said. "It's bad news for the existing market leaders."

Experts agree that the local dailies should gear up for some big changes, but they are still uncertain about the new publication's chances of success on the market.

"The new paper will not attract readers away from its established competition," said Tadeusz Kowalski, a professor at Warsaw University's Journalism Institute. "Axel Springer will look to address those potential readers who do not currently find an appropriate product on the market."

Kowalski pointed out that readers ages 17-24 would probably be a potentially interesting target group for Axel Springer's new publication, and noted that the company has had success with this age group with its weekly and monthly publications.

But Kowalski added that a daily newspaper is a whole different story.

"It is the riskiest market segment," he said.