FOCUS: PRINT - Niche appeal in Hong Kong rises

The readership of most of the top-selling newspaper and magazine titles in Hong Kong are on the decline because of a surge in niche publications entering the market. According to ACNielsen, Oriental Daily News (ODN) saw its readership slip from 2.5 million in the July 1998/June 1999 period to 2.2 million in 1999/2000. The figure for Apple Daily also edged lower from 1.7 million to 1.6 million. On the magazine side, Next's readership fell from 667,000 to 568,000. In fact, decreases were reported for 15 of the top 22 newspapers and magazines surveyed. Media specialists said that the declines were mostly due to new niche publications flooding into the market, including Weekend Weekly, a leisure travel title; New Monday, which covers leisure and lifestyle issues; plus a whole host of new entertainment magazines. Zenith Hong Kong buying director Henny To said most of the new titles were target-oriented. "The fact that people find them attractive represented a psychographic shift in readership habits," he told MEDIA. OMD Greater China managing director Maggie Choi said she wasn't surprised to see the declines, especially among the big magazines. "Next and other similar titles are finding it more difficult to find new ways of exciting readers who are constantly looking for something new. They, therefore, find these new niche titles attractive because they cater to the specific needs of individual readers," Ms Choi said. Newspapers like ODN and Apple were primarily affected by the launch of The Sun, an ODN sister publication, in March 1999. Last year, it had a readership of almost 800,000 making it the third best-selling daily in Hong Kong. "That readership would obviously erode the readership base of both ODN and Apple," Mr To said. Weekly Magazines (read in past week) 2000 1999 1999 Mid-year Report Mid-year Report Mid-year Report (Jul 1999- (Jan-Dec 1999) (Jul 1998- June 2000) June 1999) ('000) % ('000) % ('000) % Next Magazine 568 9 610 10 667 11 Sudden Weekly 499 8 569 9 621 10 Easy Finder 368 6 406 7 459 8 East Week 329 5 371 6 482 8 TVB Weekly 266 4 288 5 326 5 East Touch 254 4 282 5 316 5 Yes 165 3 197 3 250 4 Eat & Travel Weekly 151 2 130 2 115 2 Ming Pao Weekly 129 2 144 2 176 3 Cable Guide Weekly2 119 2 - - - - Oriental Sunday 110 2 151 2 193 3 PC Market 99 2 119 2 100 2 Base:All aged 9+ 6,176,000 6,105,000 6,011,000 2 Cable Guide Weekly was originally named Cable Guide which was a monthly magazine. It has changed its name to Cable Guide Weekly and was monitored from May 1999 onwards. Newspapers (read yesterday) 2000 1999 1999 Mid-year Report Mid-year Report Mid-year Report (Jul 1999- (Jan-Dec 1999) (Jul 1998- June 2000) June 1999) ('000) % ('000) % ('000) % Oriental Daily News 2,236 36 2,412 40 2,551 42 Apple Daily 1,615 26 1,642 27 1,780 30 The Sun1 777 13 - - - - Ming Pao 326 5 288 5 285 5 South China Morning Post 308 5 303 5 206 3 Sing Pao 216 3 236 4 241 4 Sing Tao Daily 145 2 133 2 118 2 Hong Kong Daily News 122 2 157 3 158 3 Hong Kong Economic Times 120 2 107 2 101 2 Tin Tin Daily News 100 2 127 2 157 3 Base:All aged 9+ 6,176,000 6,105,000 6,011,000 1 The Sun was monitored from April 1999 onwards.

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