Free ePaper Edition: Explore DIE ZEIT 47/2012 and the Digital Shift in Newspapers and Magazines

With the rise of the internet, it has become increasingly important for traditional print media to position themselves as broadly as possible and expand their offerings to the digital market and present them accordingly. This transformation began with the simple creation of a homepage.

However, at some point, that was no longer enough, as the lifestyle of many people significantly changed due to the fast and easy access to information via the internet. Ultimately, many newspapers and magazines had to expand their content to the internet and make it available there. Mobile electronic devices like smartphones, tablets, and of course, eBook readers have undoubtedly played a significant role in this development.

The extent to which this change has accelerated, especially in recent months, can be impressively demonstrated by comparing the advertising revenues of US print media (newspapers & magazines) and Google. In 2010, the US print industry earned $45 billion from advertising, while Google lagged far behind with around $10 billion in revenue.

By 2011, Google had made significant strides, and in the first half of 2012, the search engine giant was able to increase its revenue enough to surpass the print competition in advertising revenue. Accordingly, Google took in $20.8 billion, while newspapers & magazines had to settle for $19.6 billion.

Thanks in large part to Apple’s iPad and the subsequent rise of tablet books, publishers’ content is no longer just accessible via the website, but is now available in specially created and adapted online editions for download.

In the USA, for example, one has access to 200 magazines and over 90 US newspapers through Amazon. In Germany and Austria, the scenario looks a bit more modest. There are only 12 German-language newspapers and magazines to choose from here. However, with increasing eBook usage numbers, it’s likely that the digital offerings from German-language newspapers and magazines will also continue to grow.

The fact that this market is seen as having future potential is shown, for instance, by “ZEIT’s” digital package. As posted in our forum today, the ePaper offering has been revamped and is available in both Kindle (or mobi) and ePub formats. And for those who have always wanted to see what such an online edition looks like on an eBook reader, now is the chance, because DIE ZEIT 47/2012 is available for free direct download (without annoying registration or anything).

Given the obviously high demand for current eBook readers, it will be exciting to see whether the offering of newspapers and magazines will fundamentally change in the coming year. If the spread of various devices is sufficiently large, demand will also grow… and after all, it’s easier to carry a 6-inch eBook reader than several magazines, newspapers, and books.