In the past eighteen months Ukraine has witnessed a veritable explosion in the weekly news magazine market. With public interest in the political process at an all-time high and economic growth fueling increasing advertising revenues, publishing houses have been falling over themselves to launch glossy current affairs titles. Most remain relatively small scale publications with circulations of around 20,000 to 30,000 copies, but the unprecedented growth of the number of titles is nonetheless something of a Ukrainian publishing phenomenon.
Battle of the news weeklies
The first genuine current affairs weekly appeared in Ukraine in 2002 when Korrespondent magazine was launched by KP Media. This title, which remains the market leader, was recently joined in the KP Media stable by the Ukrainian-language news weekly Novynar. Other weeklies to appear over the past one and a half years include Focus, which is published by Ukrainian Media Holding and Ukrainian-language Tyzhden, founded by the Austrian company ECEM Media Gmbh in November this year. Media watchdogs and advertising industry experts remain split over what exactly qualifies as a news weekly, but most would add Glavred, Profil and Der Spiegel Profil to the list, along with Expert, Vlast Deneg and other more seemingly business-oriented titles.
Fruits of the Orange Revolution
The deputy editor of new title Tyzhden Roman Kulchinskiy seems the boom in news magazines as a direct result of the media freedoms that have transformed the Ukrainian publishing industry since 2004. “Since the Orange Revolution, [media] owners have come to understand that they can publish news and earn money without worrying about political pressure,” he reasons.
Vakhtang Kipiani, who was the first chief editor of Focus magazine, thinks that the boom in news magazines took years to come about largely due to what he terms as a general lack of experience and investment in the sector.
Media expert Oleksandr Berimets opines that the business press experienced similar growth at the turn of the millennium, making it harder for new titles to break into the market, whereas the news weekly segment remained a relatively unoccupied niche. “Creating a new market segment is always a risky undertaking and requires serious investment,” he explains, adding that the success of Korrespondent inspired publishers to launch current affairs titles.
A new category of publication
Despite the large number of news weeklies, there remains confusion over how to classify them among marketing professionals. “At present, this section of the market doesn’t fit into any of the existing mass media classifications,” complaints Berimets, who argues that this serves to make effective market research a difficult undertaking.
Tyzhden’s Kulchinskiy points out that this is partly due to the relatively recent development of the niche itself, and also connected to the wide variety of subjects covered in current affairs titles. He compares the editorial experience at his current job with that of his former, business-focused publication. “We often had to reject editorial ideas because they were not considered directly business-related,” he recalls.
News magazine readership is also thought to be among the most diverse on the Ukrainian market. Titles are generally targeted at members of the fabled middle classes in the 25 to 40 age range, but while this might appeal to potential advertisers, surveys have shown that current affairs titles are popular with people from all walks of life. “The new generation of news magazines are read by businessmen, students and clerks,” offers Vakhtang Kipiani, recalling his own experience at Focus, when the marketing team were surprised to receive numerous calls from pensioners.
Profitable publishing
The marketing agency TNS reports that while the total number of weekly news publications has shot up since the start of 2006, there are also figures which suggest that readership might actually be falling following an initial hike in interest. This has not put newcomers off, however, as the key focus is not so much magazine sales as advertising revenues in a booming market.
In 2005, the print media advertising market was estimated at USD 131 million, while in 2006 this reached USD 176.8 million, according to the All-Ukrainian Advertising Coalition. Natalia Ligachova, the chief editor of Telekritika, explains that advertisers are still not very discriminatory, placing adverts as liberally as possible without due consideration of the publication’s market position.
“The main battle on the weekly news magazine market is being fought over advertisers,” comments Berimets. “This is in line with global trends, but in Ukraine it is even more pronounced.” Internationally, about 60 to 70% of overall income is derived from advertising, whereas in Ukraine this figure can often reach 90%.
Standing out on the news stand
The challenge now facing the many titles to have entered the weekly news magazine market in recent years is to develop a readership and stand out from the crowd. “At the moment, I think that most weekly magazine publishers overestimate the ability of their Ukrainian readers to differentiate between the editorial position of their rival products,” comments Ligachova.
One way of attracting attention and distancing themselves from the existing titles is to opt for the Ukrainian language, something that nearly half of the titles to recently enter the market have done. Both Novynar and Glavred are in Ukrainian, and have been billed as pioneering titles for exactly this reason. They are both produced by large media holdings and are widely seen as attempts to expand their respective publishing house’s presences on the market.
Kipiani argues that Ukrainian-language titles appear to be less profitable than their Russian language competitors based purely on the volume of advertising carried. At the same time, Berimets states that Ukrainian- language products can claim a loyal and largely untapped readership in the west and centre of the country.
Russian title with Kyiv ambitions
The dark horse of the Ukrainian news weekly boom is the Russian language Der Spiegel Profil, which at present appears to be simply a pro-Russian Moscow weekly republished in Ukraine and marketed as a Ukrainian edition. Experts have serious doubts about its potential appeal in Ukraine. “The direct translation of Russian brands to the Ukrainian market is impossible. If they continue to express nothing but pro-Russian Kremlin rhetoric, they will fail,” states Ligachova.
Room for more titles?
Despite this apparent overkill within the news weekly segment, industry insiders predict that the range of titles will continue to grow. Ukraine already has far more weekly news magazines than most developed markets, where two or three well-established brands tend to cover the political spectrum. In Ukraine, the figure is currently anything from five to nine, depending on whose definition you accept. However, experts stress that this won’t stop new magazines coming onto the market.
Kipiani says that the success of newcomers will very much depend on the size of the publisher standing behind the project. “We are witnessing a new trend where future success will increasingly be the domain of big media holdings. Even though there are already a large number of news magazines, the market will accept a new product if it is presented by a major investor,” concludes Berimets.
