Since 2008, the media have taken the fight on two tracks. At the same time as the economic crisis began, the Internet started to spread and gather more and more users accustomed to free content. The crisis is still present. In your opinion, how much longer will it last and what will be the epilogue?
We have experienced two great difficulties at the same time. It is the time of crisis, people do not have money to buy newspapers, advertisers do not have the money to publish ads and Internet has penetrated to such extent that it created a struggle on both sides. One of the presentations I had last year showed the graveyard of newspapers and magazines that have died since the crisis began. The crisis has indeed wiped out a large number of media and, according to the current situation, 50 percent of media available today in Serbia will not exist in 2013. Simply, the Serbian market is such that in my opinion out of six televisions with national frequency, we have capacity only for three. Out of ten daily newspapers only five can exist, and only half of all the available magazines can survive. It is the optimal and realistic number both for the citizens’ pockets and the advertisers.
Second, the elections will pass and all of these non-market inputs to the media we saw in the reports of Verica Barac and other documents will cease in one way or another. When all these inputs come to an end and the economic crisis worsens, and it is likely to intensify, 50 percent of the media will not meet year 2013.
How did you adjust to the requirements caused by the widespread use of the Internet?
We are leaders in the segment of show business magazines such as Scandal, Svet, Hello… We have transformed all these magazines not to report news any longer, but to post these news on the portals which represent them. Simply, no one wants to wait until Monday to read if someone has divorced, because news of this kind change twenty times a day. Secondly, the interactivity of online service is so great that it is often more fun to read the comments below the news than the news itself. Everything that is prepared for online edition should be published on the internet, and this requires interactivity, voting, speed and conciseness.
The Internet will not shut down the traditional media. For example, painting has flourished after the discovery of photographs. Photography did not kill it, but instead, painting flourished in twenty different directions in the second half of the 19th century. I believe the same thing can happen in this area. No media has ever shut down its predecessor, the television did not shut down the radio, neither did cinema shut down the theater. All media that existed in the past are still present.
However, internet portals obviously cannot be supported only by advertising, right?
The monthly price of a banner equals the price of half page ad in the newspaper. The equivalent in money cannot be compensated. But, in order to be relevant and to keep up with others, you must have a quality online publication and handle the topics in the printed edition in such way that people say – well, I will set aside 50 or 99 RSD to buy this edition once a week. For example, we had an exclusive story in magazine Hello – the wedding photos of Zeljko Joksimovic and Jovana Jankovic in the Maldives. We paid them for this special. No one else had their wedding photos, neither online, nor in newspapers. That is one of the ways.
Many people in the press still see the Internet as some sort of threat, the enemy. It seems that you are not among them…
I enjoy the creation of internet portals. It is a blessing for our industry that these appeared as a supplement, something that can enhance your entire offer. I am convinced and the data show that many people will want to buy weekly and daily newspapers and monthly magazines if these media products offer something worth buying. However, the price policy plays an important role. The price increase of five percent can be a disaster.
We have a good example with the magazines Lepota i zdravlje and Joy. When the crisis began and when Euro went from 78 to 96 RSD in 2008, everyone, especially foreign companies, increased the prices of newspapers to more than 200 RSD. We did the opposite. We lowered the price, went from 120 to 99 RSD for both magazines, as we were aware that readers no longer have salaries of 500 or 450, but 320 Euros. The first thing they will give up will be these things and we just arranged for the readers that these 99 RSD is the amount they will set aside once a month. It was a risky move, but it paid off. This shows that there are no given recipes, but that the moves in this business are made from day to day, from one minute to another.
For how many percent did the circulation of your issues decrease during the crisis and which magazines were most affected?
When we look at all of our publications together, we may even notice a slight increase now, but only because we launched some new editions, such as Posalji recept that did not exist four years ago. This publication is now printed in 300.000 copies and it managed to make up for what was lacking. The most affected were the weekly magazines covering celebrities, such as Svet and Skandal. Svet is still the best selling weekly magazine, but its circulation is now 50.000, and few years ago was more than 100.000. In France, monthly magazines for women are slowly growing and so is the case with the magazines Lepota i zdravlje and Joy in our company. Male segment is disastrous worldwide. Men’s magazines are dropping like flies, they are vanishing. CKM is the best-selling men’s magazine in Serbia and it’s printed in 7.000 copies, while all others have 3.000 or 2.000 prints. As long as there are women the publishing will remain alive, because women are much more loyal in this aspect (laughs).
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