Background: figures and trends in the French periodical market
French production of the periodical continued to decline in 2018, according to figures from the Idep annual report "?Regards on the communication markets graphique?" published in November 2019.
Digital competition, a reduction in available reading time, a reduction in the budget of advertisers who switch to digital... the causes are many, the Institute points out. To compensate for the loss of revenue, publishers are cutting back on expenses, notably by lowering grammages, print runs and pagination.
With regard to trade with other countries, imports increased by 0.7% in 2018 compared to 2017, while exports fell by 22.4%.
According to the IEPI data, imports satisfy about 16% of domestic demand (stable figure) and come mainly from Germany, Belgium, Italy and Spain.
2018, a particularly difficult year for the magazine press
With paid circulation in France down by 6% and advertising spending down by 9%, 2018 was a particularly difficult year for the magazine press, the Idep points out. While all magazine categories are affected by the drop in circulation, the news and women's categories are the most affected.
On the other hand, the use of digital versions of magazines is increasing, reflecting an acceleration of the digital transition. This situation is leading publishers and distributors to carry out major restructuring.
Restructuring of publishers and distributors
Press groups no longer talk about "?presse magazine?", but about "?marque média?", explains the Idep. We are diversifying a press title around the media brand in which print is no longer the cornerstone. Press groups must now impose themselves on all media, which also implies for pure players (present only on the internet) to invest sometimes in paper..
As for dissemination, the law on the modernisation of press distribution was adopted at the beginning of October and published in the Official Journal. It foresees opening up the press distribution sector to new players by 1 October at the latest er january 2023.
