UPM_News_2016

al tabloid style familiar from the parent publication. With just under 1,850,000 copies sold, Bild is still the most widely cir- culated daily newspaper in Germany. Nevertheless, a title dedicated wholly to football is new territory for Spring- er. It will initially be published for a tri- al period until the end of the year, with 60,000 copies being sold exclusively in the metropolitan areas around Munich and Stuttgart. There has never been a daily sports newspaper in Germany until now – which is quite surprising if you look at Germany’s football-loving Euro- pean neighbours such as France, Italy and Spain. Daily sports titles in these countries are found not only in stand- ard newspaper ranges, but they also consistently rank among the best sell- ers at every newspaper kiosk. Until now, experts have suggest- ed that Germany offers meagre pros- pects for this type of title, arguing that the market gap has already been filled with free-to-air TV programmes and weekly or biweekly football titles, such as Kicker and Springer’s own foot- ball-heavy Sport-Bild . Football is bigger than ever The decision to launch the new title was a long-deliberated one. Accord- ing to Bild Manager Frank Mahlberg , plans to launch a daily sports paper are

documented in the company archives as far back as twenty years ago. Why, then, has Springer decided to risk it now? “Football is bigger than ever,” the company head argues. “You can tell from the TV ratings, the size of the crowds in the stadiums and the sums of money that channels pay for broadcasting rights.” With its new paper, the publisher hopes to reach out to all those “who can’t get enough of football.” This tar- get group is steadily growing in size. “Since the World Cup in 2006, we’ve seen the football hype increase year after year,” says the Chief Editor of Fußball-Bild, Matthias Brügelmann . In fact, the 2006 World Cup – re- ferred to by Germans as their “sum- mer fairy-tale” – unleashed a whole new level of enthusiasm, and not just because their team came third on home turf, but also because their hearts were captivated by the young players and their thrilling style of attack. Print only, please The new sports paper, printed mostly on paper from UPM, has another spe- cial differentiator: going against the general trend for online journalism, Fußball-Bild is strictly print only. “Naturally, football fans enjoy watching football on their phones so that they can experience what it’s like in the stadiums, and of course everyone

it supplements with exclusive content such as the front page, up-to-date com- mentary and graphics. The debuting sport star seems to have plenty of positives going for it – but whether or not the readers agree will be revealed at the end of the year. The results of the trial will be assessed during the Christmas break. If the re- sult is a thumbs-up, Nabil Bentaleb’s war cry and Manuel Neuer’s heroic saves will be seen throughout Germa- ny on the front page of the newspaper from 2017 onwards. And perhaps Fuss- ball-Bild can comfort Schalke fans with some golden tips for beating the unbeatable Bayern!

at Springer is aware of the popularity of live text. However, when it comes to background, analysis and perspective, nothing does it better than print. We be- lieve that a clear style and plenty of ed- itorial content from cover to cover give our paper that added value,” says com- pany spokesman Friedrich Kabler . “With Fußball-Bild we’re showing that it’s possible to be innovative in the world of print,” he adds. Here they’ll make no compromise: anyone hoping to read the content of the new sports pa- per online will be searching the internet in vain. Fußball-Bild will focus exclu- sively on traditional print journalism. “Our trial period will run until the German league’s winter break, and we have made a conscious decision not to put any content online during this time,” explains Kabler. Springer’s decision is applauded by Maria Voigt , Group Manager, Acti- vation Print at PHD Germany. Voigt praises the publisher for invigorating the industry and boldly investing in print innovation, despite what the cyn- ics might argue. Debut of a rising star Fußball-Bild is able to carefully con- trol its costs and risks as it requires no separate team of editors. The newcom- er mainly draws on existing text from the twelve Bild regional offices as well as from the Berlin headquarters, which

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