The Press Market in Denmark

1. Current developments on the newspaper market
At the beginning of the new millennium Danish newspapers were involved in a number of international trends which contributed to a partly new definition of the media landscape. New involvement in internet activities and, in 2002-03, especially in local radio and TV was the result of twofold worries. On the one hand the circulation and also the readership was declining; on the other hand there was reason to believe that the advertisers would not return in full measure with the booming conditions expected to follow after a number of years of weak economy. For the first time ever there was reason to believe that the decline in advertising, especially the classified ads, depended not only on economic conditions but also on structural changes, as the internet had advantages that could not be ignored – not only in relation to the lucrative job ads, but also to advertisements for homes, cars and other classified advertisements. Against this background most provincial newspaper businesses ventured into the purchase of radio stations and in a few cases also TV stations, whereas the new nationwide radio channels did not find any interested buyers among the daily newspapers when they were put up for sale in 2003. The involvement in new media entailed an acute need to negotiate new multimedia agreements with the Danish Union of Journalists, as Danish newspapers do not have the advantage of legislation which, as in the Anglo-Saxon world, gives the employer the financial rights to journalists’ and photographers’ works. Then there was the establishing of new free newspapers that followed the Swedish model. In 2001 the Swedish Modern Times Group launched a free daily paper, MetroXpressin Copenhagen, and soon after also a local version in Århus. As a countermove – presumably above all to protect its position in the advertising market – Berlingske Tidende immediately launched a corresponding paper, Urban, which in a few years became the largest newspaper in Sjælland. In Aalborg Nordjyske Medier added the free newspaper 10 Minutesto its wide media range, just as Fyens Stiftstidende launched a free paper in Odense and Jyllands-Posten one in Aarhus. Thus in 2005 the total circulation of dailies, paid for or free, reached the same high level as in the mid-1980s. Following a few years of quiet co-existence, the market for free newspapers underwent a revolution in 2006. An Icelandic company presented its plans for a free, home-delivered paper in Denmark after having done this successfully in Iceland. This very soon led to similar projects from the two largest newspaper publishers in Denmark, JP/Politiken and Berlingske. After 4-5 months on the market the papers have had varying success. Especially the home distribution of between 300.000 – 500.000 copies a day each through independent distribution networks has caused considerable challenges.

2. Structure/process of press distribution in Denmark
The Danish market differs from most other countries, as, there is no major chain selling press, and there are no wholesalers, but delivery is done either by the publishers themselves or a national distributor. Over several years the number of outlets has been decreasing. At present there are around 8.000 sales points in Denmark. The distributor decides how many newspapers are delivered to the various outlets and the assortment of chains is usually decided on a central basis. The sales points have full right of return. Newspapers have zero VAT, while the rate for magazines is 25%.

3. Market for international/foreign press
The biggest part of the turnover with international press comes from Danes reading magazines in English. For foreign newspapers tourism, business and migration are equally important occasions. Approx. 25% of the circulation of international press is being sold on subscription and 75% as single copies. There are 800 press outlets selling international press, and the most important chains for international press sales are the Danish Railway System (90 railway kiosks), 7-eleven (61outlets), SSP (4 at Copenhagen Airport) and Global Press (70 independent kiosks). In summer the supermarkets in tourist areas become important outlets for international press – especially for German, Norwegian and Swedish titles. There are two distributors for international press in Denmark: Interpress Danmark A/S (magazines and newspapers) with a market share of 95% and Connection2Denmark (only newspapers) with a market share of 5%. Both distributors have exclusive right per title for all of Denmark. As international newspapers are available for distribution later than the Danish ones they need to be delivered through an expensive separate network, contributing to higher sales prices. The discount rate for international press is generally around 25%, and somewhat lower for big tourist newspapers.

4. Presence of foreign publishers and international licensed titles on the market
There have been 4 to 5 attempts to «localize» international magazines in a Danish edition with no big success. Although Denmark is a very small market with only 5.3 million inhabitants, it has a strong home magazine market, which makes it difficult for new players to enter. There are no special regulations for foreign publishers on the market.

5. Outlook
The market for both newspapers and magazines has been declining the last decade, and in spite of a booming national economy there are no signs of an increasing involvement of foreign titles on the Danish market – with the exception of free dailies. The sales outlets, and especially the big chains, intend to introduce scanning for both national and international titles. This is expected to raise the price of distribution, as it will be the publisher/distributor who has to pay for missing copies.

Authors: Marianne Bugge Zederkof, Market Manager, Danish Newspaper Association / Adam Rue, Consultant, Danish Newspaper Publishers Association