In Q&A sessions with 15 of their key publishing partners across Europe, Fundamental Media asked them about how the Corona crisis has affected their business, how they have adapted so far and the challenges they have faced during this tough time.
All publishers highlighted the importance of technology and most have enhanced their digital offering.
While the crisis has had a severe impact on publishers’ business models, most have adapted by exploring new avenues of revenue and 20% have even seen their revenue grow.
A third of publishers also mentioned a dramatic increase in traffic to their website, as people are searching for relevant information during these uncertain times. This is in line with earlier findings by Fundamental Media.
Naturally, most employees at publishing houses have been working from home for almost two months now, but most publishers seem to be pleased by how well the transition to having to communicate with colleagues via technology only has gone.
All of this would of course not be possible if it wasn’t for modern-day technological solutions, and everyone interviewed highlighted the importance of technology and digital propositions, with two thirds of them offering more digital content, events, podcasts and so on.
While many predicted an extremely difficult period for print titles, the Q&A surprisingly found print publications are faring relatively well.
A fifth of publishers have made their print publications available for download online, while 27% have offered to send paper editions to subscribers’ home addresses and are reporting a high take-up of the offer, with one publisher saying up to 90% of their readership gets their publication delivered at their home address.
To read what each publisher has to say about publishing in times of Corona, just click here.
