Życies undergo face-lift; TV Puls confident of fall lineup

By : Anna Kocińska

    Quick read: Życie editor in chief Paweł Fšfara aims to make his revamped newspaper readable in 15 minutes.

   National daily Życie is set to unveil a new design next week in line with the newspaper’s strategy to boost its readership and attract more ad revenue, said Jan Kreft, chief executive officer of Dom Wydawniczy Wolne Słowo (DWWS), publisher of Życie.

   In an effort to revive the title, which has foundered since 1996, Kreft said Życie would increase its print run from 90,000 copies to 170,000 and spend zł. 10 million ($2.4 million) on the paper’s relaunch, slated for Sept. 10. “We expect that sales should grow by 15-30% by the end of this year (as compared to the present 40,000 copies),” he said.

   Życie’s newly appointed editor in chief, Paweł Fšfara, said last week that compared to the present version, the revamped daily would be easier to read. “People have less time to read, which is why we redesigned Życie into a ‘faster’ newspaper,” he said. “It will be readable in 15 minutes. Obviously, apart from the most basic portion of information, Życie will continue to offer longer and broader texts, too.”

   Fšfara said thematic supplements, such as television listings or financial inserts, were also in the offing. However, Życie’s face-lift mainly calls for more color and improved paper quality to make the daily more “reader friendly,” Fšfara said. It will also feature more stories on subjects readers may consider useful. “Readers should be able to use information they find in our stories,” he said.

   In the midst of Życie’s relaunch, DWWS is itself undergoing a restructuring. While its owner 4Media has postponed plans to list the publisher on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) next year, it hasn’t scrapped the idea entirely. “We want to list DWWS on the WSE in 2003, but not at any cost,” Kreft said. He added that 4Media was in talks last week with a potential investor who may even acquire a controlling stake in the company. “We should be able to announce his name within a few weeks,” Kreft said.

   Życie Warszawy (ŻW), which for 57 years has chronicled life in the capital, is also undergoing a redesign. Its new version features bigger photographs, more elaborate graphics and a bevy of special-interest supplements, said Marek Zagórski, ŻW’s editor in chief. Zagórski said the newspaper’s editorial team was also seeing changes. Since last year it has added 15% more staff and now has 70 reporters.

   ŻW is geared toward Varsovians, 39-50 years of age, with at least a college education. The newspaper’s new owner, publisher Dom Prasowy, is planning a promotional campaign for the revamped ŻW toward the latter half of September or beginning of October.

   ŻW is making the changes to lift sagging sales, which by the beginning of this year dropped to 17,779 copies. In June, they went up slightly to 19,349 copies.

   Broadcasting newcomer TV Puls is counting on improving its poor TV audience share with a fall lineup dominated by movies and news programs.

   The station, which launched in March, had a modest start in terms of ratings and so far claims a meager 0.5% of viewership. Shortly before the summer vacation season, the company increased its potential technical reach to 50% of the country, which hasn’t yet translated into larger ratings.

   “Advertisers do show some interest in TV Puls, and why not if it’s so cheap that you can buy an ad spot there for almost the price of a half-page ad in a local paper,” said Marcin Bogłowski, head of the TV division at Mediacom.

   According to Bartłomiej Pawlak, former public relations director at TV Puls, the station will raise its ad rates next year. “I am sure that our audience share will grow and advertisers will look at us with more interest,” he said. “The media market is in crisis and advertisers are seeing things through their pocketbooks, so it might be a chance for small TV stations.”

   Meanwhile, AGB’s Krzysztof Nożyński said TV Puls has not lived up to expectations. “Their programs are boring including their news programs, which were supposed to counterbalance other media,” he said.

   But Pawlak said this fall’s lineup would usher in a new beginning for the struggling station. “There is nothing like movies to help build better audience share,” he said.

   Apart from films, the station is counting on its news programs to pick up viewers. “Wydarzenia” (Events), an evening news program, will be bumped up to the 8 p.m. slot. By comparison, competing news programs TVP’s “Wiadomoœci” (News) and TVN’s “Fakty” (Facts) run at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. respectively.

   “Without promotion, ‘Wydarzenia’ may grab as much as 2% of audience share, which is significant for a new station,” Pawlak said. In addition, during the Sept. 23 parliamentary elections TV Puls will run a special election program every day. “We want to achieve a 3% audience share by the end of this year and a 6-7% share by 2003,” Pawlak said.

   According to Mediacom’s Bogłowski, TV Puls could pick up even more viewers, such as those loyal to public television, but this may take time. As for Pawlak, he said TV Puls would be able to survive the advertising dry spell until it completes its search for a strategic investor. “We are not in a corner yet,” he said. “We have sufficient funds to finance the station until we find an investor. We should be able to find him within six months.”