Bild's Andreas Wiele urges publishers to create a strong digital presence, and to charge for it

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on September 9, 2010 at 8:29 AM

Andreas Wiele, director of the Bild Group, encouraged publishers not to be afraid of cannibalising their print products by creating a strong digital presence, and not to be afraid of charging for it. If you don't grab your readers online, he warned, someone else will. Wiele was speaking at the WAN-IFRA 9th International Newsroom Summit.

Bild, Germany's leading tabloid and Europe's biggest selling newspaper, has not seen any declines in readership in the last five years despite a thriving web presence. In fact, Wiele said, there is only a 7% overlap between the print and online audience. He explained that all stories are put online after the editorial close each night, except for very rare exclusives which are saved for the paper, "so there is really no reason to pick up the newspaper, but 3 million people still buy it every day."

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